Israeli experts say suicide rates in Israel may increase due to war – Israel News

Specialists who receive daily calls for help from the Israeli population warn that in light of the continuation of wars in Israel Gaza, Lebanon and beyondthey expect suicide risk rates to increase, as shown in studies conducted after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and the Pentagon, which have personally affected Americans much less than the current war with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

A new study conducted and analyzed by the University of Haifa, ERAN (Emotional First Aid), Tel Aviv University (TAU), the College of Management Academic Studies at Rishon Lezion and New York’s Columbia University showed that in the first days after October 7, the number of calls about suicidal intentions received at ERAN help centers decreased. However, there has been a sharp increase in the number of calls in the context of general psychological stress such as anxiety, depression and trauma.

Data from over 600,000 calls to the ERAN hotline were examined, comparing 20 months before and three months after October 7. Changes in suicide rates following a nationwide trauma may differ from changes in psychiatric symptoms or general anxiety following such events. However, very few studies have examined short-term suicidal responses after such an event, they wrote.

The number of calls for general mental distress rose from 67,555 in the three months before the attack to 89,445 in the three months after.

“In contrast, the number of suicide calls dropped from 1,887 in the three months before the war to a total of 1,663 in the three months following. Although psychological distress increased, no immediate increase in suicide risk was observed after October 7, indicating that suicide is not necessarily an immediate response to large-scale traumatic events,” said Dr. Joy Benatov of the University of Haifa’s special education department, who led the study. . It has just been published in the prestigious scientific journal JAMA Psychiatry under the title “Suicidality Calls to a National Helpline After a Terror Attack and War”.

Destroyed houses after the October 7 massacre almost a year ago at Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel, September 19, 2024. (Source: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

What does the study say?

A new study shows that the total number of suicide calls has dropped over a three-month period October 7 compared to the period of three months before the outbreak of the war. In contrast, there was a sharp increase in calls for help after October 7, underscoring the increase in overall mental distress in the months following the murderous attack. Moreover, the trend reversed over time as overall mental distress increased immediately on October 7. In the following months there was a downward trend; then the suicide risk rate decreased and gradually began to increase.

Now, more than a year since the start of the War of the Iron Swords and the terrible attack on southern Israel, followed by the devastating opening of the war front in the north and the serious risk of war with Iran, professionals fear the serious psychological consequences of an end to the crisis with no end in sight.

Previous research has shown an increase in emotional distress following national traumas, with suicide rates decreasing in the short period following these events. Although the latter is typically attributed to the experiences of belonging and social support that characterize national traumas, it may also reflect a self-preservation response to an acute threat (fight or flight response).

In later stages, when the threat decreases or becomes chronic, the initial response may be replaced by suicidal experiences (despair and deprivation of mental resources), thus leading to an increase in suicide risk. This pattern was found in a study of New York City hotline calls (LifeNet) in the months after the September 11 attacks, which found an increase in calls related to symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder; however, the number of depression-related calls only increased later, after several months.

In the current study, a team of researchers that also included Dr. Liat Itzhaky, TAU psychiatrist Dr. Shiri Daniels, and Prof. Gil Zalsman, sought to examine the impact of the events of October 7 on suicide risk rates in the general population in Israel. For this purpose, data was used covering over -600,000 calls to the ERAN hotline, comparing 20 months before and three months after October 7.

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Daniels, national professional director of ERAN and head of the College of Management’s educational advising program, told The Jerusalem Post that “suicide is a complex result of a combination of psychological, social and environmental factors that integrate. Each case is unique and cannot be reduced to one factor. It is important to avoid creating a one-dimensional association between an event and suicide, as this may falsely portray it as a “logical” or reasonable response to a difficult situation.

“Suicide results from deep mental suffering, and understanding it requires extensive observation of a person’s mental state. Because the increase in suicide rates may be a delayed response to the massive national trauma that war brings, we must prepare for it in advance and strengthen various mental health services to create accessible and effective treatment sequences.”

The attacks on New York and Washington were terrible and traumatic, but they did not personally affect all Americans and quickly ended – unlike the situation in Israel that lasted for over a year – with hostages being taken, hundreds of soldiers killed and thousands wounded, and hundreds of civilians murdered or killed as a result of the attacks terrorists, missiles and more. We live in constant war and terror.

“The Israelis are facing external enemies and that’s what keeps us busy,” Daniels said. “But we must be prepared for an increase in suicide rates in this country. There are already 500 of them a year, like a jumbo jet falling from the sky. There is a ‘National Suicide Prevention Plan’ but it is not supported by sufficient professional staff and funding. This is a higher death toll than road accidents and includes young people, even teenagers, single people and the elderly.

Men are more likely to take their own lives because they have greater access to means of violence, while women are more likely to try and fail because they are more likely to seek help. Multiple authorities need to be involved, including the ministries of health, social welfare and education, as well as voluntary organisations. The need for emotional help is very high right now.”

“One of the possible reasons for the decline in the number of suicide calls in the immediate period after October 7 is the increase in social cohesion that sometimes occurs in the initial phase of a national crisis, this effect is called “pull together” in the professional literature and contributes to reducing the risk of suicide” – wrote the authors.

“However, other explanations are possible, including: the fact that the effect of increasing social cohesion fades as crises continue. And in light of the continuation of war and national crisis, we expect suicide risk rates to increase, as we saw in studies conducted after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in the US 23 years ago,” he said. Benatov.

The researchers noted that the current study looked at the general Israeli population, but there are also specific groups at increased risk during national crises or wars, including veterans, trauma survivors and members of primary relief forces such as ZAKA personnel who removed the bodies. or pathologists who assisted in their identification.

ERAN provides an immediate, anonymous, life-saving emotional first aid service. He can be contacted on 1201 and on the ERAN website at or via WhatsApp, email and SMS.