In a headline published last week in Israel's Israel Hayom newspaper, we were presented with a painful and unsettling picture, but for our teams at ELEM, they are not surprising. They reflect the daily reality they have been encountering on the ground for many long months.
A new study by the Meuhedet Health Fund reveals the "war effect" on the hearts and minds of the younger generation:
- A 52% increase in the use of psychiatric medications among children and teenagers.
- A 22% increase in the use of emotional and mental health therapy.
- An 18% increase in mental health diagnoses (including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and more).
The most alarming finding? Children living in communities within 4.3 miles of the border are twice as likely to receive a mental health diagnosis and treatment.
Behind these statistics are teenagers who have lost their most basic sense of security. Some have been evacuated from their homes, some have come to see air raid sirens and missile attacks as normal, and all of them are trying to grow up in the unimaginable reality of an ongoing war.
This distress doesn't always "cry out." Sometimes it hides behind closed doors, in loneliness and quiet anxiety, and sometimes it erupts in at-risk behaviors.
ELEM is on the front lines of the fight for young people's mental health. Our outreach programs, street outreach vans, youth centers, and digital teams meet these youth at precisely these difficult moments — in the streets, in public squares, in schools, and online.
We are there to listen, embrace, offer a compassionate ear, and help them process their trauma before it deepens. This war leaves invisible wounds, and we must not leave the younger generation to face them alone.
These figures are a wake-up call for all of us — the State of Israel, the education system, and civil society. We must expand emotional support services and mental health care now.
Support our work and help expand these services in the field:
elem.org/not-alone/.
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