Health professionals have noted a surge in drug and alcohol abuse as well as other addictive behaviours in Israel since October 7, AFP reports.

Yoni, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect his privacy, told AFP that he had started taking drugs recreationally before, but “after the war, it seemed to really get worse”.

Psychiatrist Shaul Lev-Ran, founder of the Israel Center on Addiction, said, “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.”

A study carried out by his team, based in the central city of Netanya, found “a connection between indirect exposure to the October 7 events and an increase in addictive substances consumption” of about 25 per cent.

Contacted by AFP, the Palestinian Authority said there was no equivalent data on addiction and mental health for the Palestinian territories.

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