Mental health hotline sees massive jump in calls since October 7

The Eran mental health crisis hotline releases statistics for the first six months of the war with Hamas in Gaza.

The organization refers to the numbers as “notable and worrisome.”

In the last half year since October 7, Eran received 172,000 requests for mental health support by phone or internet. This averages 33,000 per month, with a higher-than-average number (44,000) in the war’s first month. The average daily call load since the beginning of the war stands at 920.

On October 7 alone, the organization dealt with more than 3,500 incoming calls. This compares to 500 calls on a routine Saturday.

There has been a 10 percent increase over the usual number of calls from men, a population that tends to call the hotline infrequently.

Many calls came from soldiers (male and female) on regular and reserve duty, as was reflected by the fact that 41% of calls received by the hotline were from people between the ages of 18 and 35.

Children and teens under age 17 called in at a rate 125% higher than the same period last year. This increase was particularly evident in the early weeks of the war.

Eran notes an increase of 950% in calls relating to anxiety, trauma, and loss as compared to the same six months in 2022-2023. As the war continued, there was also a surge in calls about depression, loneliness and general emotional distress.

Of the 38,240 young people to age 24 who called the hotline, 60% were female and 40% male. A third of these calls had to do with anxiety and trauma. One in every five calls dealt with deep mental anguish.