COVID19 Research
One in five Israelis suffer from depression
One out of every five Israelis reported suffering from high or very high levels of depression, according to a new study led by Dr. Bruria Adini, Head of Emergency and Disaster Management Department at the School of Public Health in Tel Aviv University and the Academic college of Tel-Hai.
Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, symptoms of depression have increased significantly – from 14% in May 2020 to 18% in July 2020 and to 20% in October.
At the same time, the study found that at the peak of the second wave, almost one in three people in Israel (29%) suffered extreme or highly extreme symptoms of anxiety. Here, too, the data presents a sharp increase – from 23% in May to 27% in July and now 29%.
In contrast, in 2018, only 12% of the population expressed high and very high anxiety levels in 2018 and only 9% expressed these levels of depression.
“It is concerning to see that over time, resilience is going down and anxiety and depression is going up,” said Dr. Bruria who. “This should come to the attention of policy and opinion makers.”
