Conducted by the Israel Center on Addiction in November and December with a representative sample of 1,000 Israeli settlers, the study found that one in four Israelis has increased their use of addictive substances since the war began on October 7, Al Mayadeen TV English reported.
According to a study in 2022, before the Israeli war on Gaza started, one in seven Israelis struggled with drug addiction, also noting a correlation between indirect exposure to the events of October 7 and a roughly 25% increase in addictive substance consumption. “The closer individuals were to the trauma on October 7, the higher the risk” of addictive behaviors, it found.
“As a natural reaction to emotional stress and as a search for relief, we’ve seen a spectacular rise in the consumption of various addictive sedative substances,” Psychiatrist Shaul Lev-Ran, founder of the Israel Center on Addiction, was quoted as saying by AFP.
Lev-Ran reported an increase in the use of “prescription drugs, illegal drugs, alcohol, or addictive behaviors such as gambling.”
The Israel Center on Addiction study found increased addictive substance consumption among those who were present during the outbreak of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, as well as among Israelis who left settlements near the Gaza border or in the north, near Lebanon.
MNA