Due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, the majority of adults are experiencing serious mental health conditions, including overwhelming anxiety, depression, and trauma. A study detailing these psychological effects was recently published in a journal. conflict and health.
War causes significant physical damage to communities through direct violence and destruction of infrastructure. It also creates deep, invisible emotional scars that can last for generations. Mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety often spike in conflict zones, as people endure constant fear, displacement, and loss of loved ones.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is another common consequence of living with long-term violence. This mental illness occurs when an individual experiences a traumatic or dangerous event and subsequently suffers from a variety of debilitating symptoms. People with this disorder often experience intrusive memories, emotional numbing, and heightened physical arousal that makes it difficult to sleep and concentrate.
Before the current conflict escalated in October 2023, residents of the Gaza Strip were already facing extreme psychological distress. Decades of economic hardship, restrictions on movement, and repeated military operations had left the population extremely vulnerable. Previous research has shown that a large proportion of adults and children in the region already suffer from symptoms of depression.
Current wars have dramatically worsened these living conditions and expanded the scope of human suffering. A large portion of the population has been forced from their homes and taken refuge in crowded temporary shelters. Meanwhile, widespread destruction of hospitals and basic infrastructure has severely limited access to medical and psychological care.
Understanding the true psychological burden of this ongoing crisis is of great urgency for public health professionals. Mohammed R. Zughboul, a medical researcher at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, led a team of international medical experts to determine the exact scale of this mental health emergency. Zughbur and his colleagues recognized the need for immediate data to guide both current humanitarian aid and future medical interventions.
The research team set out to determine the exact prevalence of mental health disorders in Gaza after a full year of war. They also sought to determine which specific war experiences were most closely associated with extreme psychological distress.
To collect this information, researchers conducted an online survey from November 2024 to January 2025. Ongoing violence and road destruction made in-person interviews too dangerous and logistically impossible. The team distributed the survey via email and various social media networks to reach as many people as possible.
They were able to collect responses from 405 Palestinian adults currently living in the Gaza Strip. Participants were asked a series of demographic questions, including age, living situation, and education level.
The survey also asked participants about their direct exposure to specific war-related events in the past year. We asked if they had lost a family member, witnessed a serious injury, experienced forced displacement, or lost a job due to conflict.
To measure psychological distress, the researchers utilized three standardized psychological questionnaires. These screening tools asked individuals to rate how often they experienced certain emotions, such as unwanted memories of stressful experiences or lack of interest in daily activities.
The data collected revealed a very high prevalence of mental health disorders among the participants. Almost 73% of respondents reported experiencing moderate to severe depression. These people frequently reported feelings of hopelessness, extreme fatigue, and an inability to find joy in life.
Anxiety was highly prevalent across the study population. Exactly 65% of participants reported experiencing moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. These symptoms include constant worry, restlessness, and inability to concentrate on basic tasks.
The incidence of trauma was even higher than the incidence of depression and anxiety. The data showed that 83.5 percent of adults surveyed met diagnostic criteria for possible post-traumatic stress disorder. The average scores on the trauma questionnaire were very high, indicating that respondents were under significant psychological strain.
Many were suffering from overlapping mental health conditions at the exact same time. Researchers found that 54 percent of participants simultaneously experienced severe depression, severe anxiety, and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder. This overlap suggests that chronic trauma leads to widespread disruption of emotion regulation rather than a single, isolated disorder.
The team then used statistical models to examine how specific war experiences affect a person’s mental health. They looked at the mathematical probability that someone would develop a mental disorder after experiencing a particular traumatic event. When checking the mathematical fit of these models, the researchers found that the deviations were not statistically significant, meaning the predictive equations were highly reliable.
Losing a family member was strongly associated with poorer mental health. Participants who lost a relative were almost twice as likely to experience moderate or severe depression or anxiety. This finding is consistent with previous research showing that grief and bereavement are major contributors to psychological distress during war.
Witnessing violence also had a significant impact on individuals’ psychological health. People who saw someone killed or injured were three times more likely to report moderate to severe anxiety.
Geographic location also played a clear role in respondents’ mental health. Living in the northern Gaza Strip, an area that has experienced intense military operations, was strongly associated with higher levels of both depression and anxiety.
The researchers also noticed a clear pattern related to the age of the participants. As respondents got older, the likelihood of experiencing severe depression or trauma symptoms actually decreased.
Older adults may have more adaptive coping mechanisms or have developed psychological resilience after surviving previous periods of conflict. Gaza’s cultural background, characterized by strong family support systems, may also help protect older adults from certain types of chronic stress.
However, older adults reported much higher levels of anxiety than younger participants. Researchers believe this increased anxiety may be due to age-specific physical vulnerabilities and dependence on broken health infrastructure. Older adults often face declining physical health and may feel completely helpless when medical care and essential resources are completely cut off.
While the study provides a clear picture of widespread suffering, the researchers noted some limitations to their study. The study was conducted entirely online, so participants needed to have internet access and a functioning digital device. This method likely excluded the poorest residents and older people without reliable technology.
The sample of participants was found to be highly educated compared to the general population. In fact, over 90% of survey respondents had a bachelor’s degree or higher education.
People of lower socio-economic status usually face worse psychological effects during long wars. As a result, the actual rates of depression and anxiety in the broader population may be even higher than what this study captured.
The researchers also relied on self-reported symptoms rather than formal psychiatric evaluation by a doctor. Although the questionnaires used in research settings are reliable, self-reports may be influenced by the person’s immediate level of distress.
Additionally, this study only looked at adult residents of the area. Children are highly vulnerable to the trauma of war, and their specific psychological needs remain largely unmeasured in this particular study.
Future research should address these gaps by including children and targeting people without internet access. The researchers suggest that future projects should also focus on developing psychological interventions specifically designed for Gaza’s cultural context.
Healing this level of widespread trauma requires more than just standard treatment. Comprehensive community-led programs that rebuild social bonds and provide long-term emotional support will be needed.
In the meantime, current data shows an overwhelming need for international support and an immediate end to the violence. Mental health care must become a central part of the humanitarian response to this ongoing crisis.
The study, “Prevalence and correlates of symptoms of anxiety, depression, and trauma among Palestinian adults in Gaza after a year of war: A cross-sectional study,” was authored by Mohamed R. Zughbul, Yasser Hammam, Ashraf Kagi, Majid Hammam, Yara M. Hijazi, Mohamed Hammam, Ola Abu-Oluwan, Shamek Saeed, and Guido Veronese.
