Nearly one million ‘Israelis’ contacted mental health hotline since Oct. 7
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Nearly one million ‘Israelis’ contacted the ERAN mental health hotline in the three years following the events of October 7, according to a report released by the nonprofit organization.
ERAN’s 1,850 trained volunteers, backed by mental health professionals, handled 928,911 inquiries between October 2023 and late 2026.
Of these, 774,604 were phone calls and 154,307 came through digital channels including WhatsApp, chat, SMS and email.
The volume peaked in the first two years before a slight drop in the third, though overall demand remained high.
“The three years of war have confronted us with a harsh and ongoing reality,” said David Koren, ERAN’s CEO.
“Behind every call for help stands a person grappling with pain, loss, anxiety, loneliness, or burnout — and often a combination of these.” Loneliness emerged as the most frequent issue, rising from roughly 28 percent of calls in the first year to 41 percent by the third.
Calls involving suicidal thoughts, intentions or actions totaled 21,829, or about 2.35 percent of all contacts.
The share increased from 2 percent in the first year to 2.83 percent in the third.
Among children, teenagers and young adults up to age 24 — who eventually made up nearly a quarter of all inquiries — the proportion of suicide-related calls nearly doubled, climbing from 2.6 percent to 4.4 percent.
Military personnel accounted for 160,000 contacts, with loneliness also dominant among soldiers and reservists.
Reports of sexual abuse and violence among service members rose from 5 percent of military calls in the first year to 10 percent in the second before easing slightly.
Meanwhile, the share of calls about acute anxiety, trauma and loss declined over time, from 18.4 percent initially to 9.6 percent in the third year, though ERAN officials said this reflected a shift in reported issues rather than reduced distress.
The ‘Israeli’ figures come amid a far larger humanitarian and psychological crisis in Gaza, where three years of intense military operations have produced widespread destruction, mass displacement and death tolls exceeding tens of thousands according to local health authorities.
Studies of Palestinian populations have documented extremely high rates of PTSD, depression and anxiety, with some surveys finding more than 80 percent of adults screening positive for trauma-related symptoms and limited access to mental health care.
