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<\/a><\/p>\nA few hours or a day later, he returns to his other life. Amir, 38, from Givatayim, a city near Tel Aviv, works as an analyst. He is successful at his job, is well regarded and feels his career is continuing to advance. No one at the company where he works knows that almost every weekend, another life begins for him.<\/p>\n
Jackie, also a pseudonym, does not fit the traditional image of a drug addict either. The 40-year-old high school teacher and mother of two lives in central Israel. Less than two years ago, the world of techno, outdoor raves and music festivals was almost entirely foreign to her. Today, she goes out most weekends and regularly uses stimulants and, at times, psychedelic drugs.<\/p>\n
The two are very different. Amir already acknowledges that he sees signs of dependence in himself, perhaps even addiction. Jackie, by contrast, is convinced at this stage that drugs have actually improved her life. But they have one thing in common: They work, function and maintain relationships \u2014 and to a large extent, it is precisely their ability to function at a high level that allows them to continue.<\/p>\n
Three years after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, data show the phenomenon extends far beyond Tel Aviv\u2019s club scene.<\/p>\n
A study by the Israel Center on Addiction and Mental Health, or ICA, followed samples of Jewish adults in Israel at four points in time: April 2022, December 2023, June 2024 and February 2025. Over that period, researchers found an increase in problematic use of prescription sedatives, opioids and drugs more broadly.<\/p>\n
In several areas, including problematic drug or alcohol use, researchers recorded a sharp increase after Oct. 7, followed by some decline during 2024. But the downward trend did not continue. After the rate stood at about 25% in 2024, it climbed again to 26.8% in February 2025.<\/p>\n
ICA\u2019s 2025 annual report presented the same broader picture: More than one in four Israelis were found to be engaging in high-risk use of addictive substances. Among young adults ages 18 to 26, the figure was one in three, as it was among those who served in the military during the war, either on active duty or in the reserves.<\/p>\n
According to the report, use of sedatives and sleeping medications rose 2.5-fold compared with the period before the war. Opioid use nearly doubled, with a similar increase recorded in stimulant use. Additional data were collected during 2026 but have not yet been analyzed.<\/p>\n
The Health Ministry has explicitly identified the trend. Since the outbreak of the war, it says, there has been an increase in harmful use of alcohol and drugs, as well as addictive behaviors, particularly among people who were already at risk. The ministry points to trauma, insecurity, prolonged exposure to news and the loss of a sense of control as factors that can drive people to seek numbness or escape.<\/p>\n
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Dr. Roy ZuckerPhoto: Yariv Goldfarb<\/p>\n
Dr. Roy Zucker, a specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases who works in drug-use harm reduction, said he is seeing the change on the ground as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is unequivocally an increase in substance use in Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But Zucker said it would be overly simplistic to blame the war alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt already started during COVID,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a process that has grown over the years, in Israel and around the world. What we have been going through here served as a kind of catalyst.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the heart of the increase, he said, is a simple human need: escape.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crazy reality we\u2019re living through and the desire to escape a little \u2014 if not to physically get away from here, then to escape mentally,\u201d Zucker said. \u201cThese substances provide a few hours of escape from reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof. Shauli Lev-Ran, a psychiatrist, co-founder of the Israel Center on Addiction and Mental Health and its academic director, explains the same mechanism through the body\u2019s stress response.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman beings and other living creatures can remain in survival mode for a limited amount of time,\u201d he said. \u201cA zebra being chased goes into a state of stress, it runs away and eventually the chase ends. We are not built to live for prolonged periods at the level of stress appropriate to a survival situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in Israel, he said, \u201cthe alarm never passed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Prof. Shauli Lev-RanPhoto: Rami Zerenger<\/p>\n
Oct. 7 did not remain a single-day traumatic event. It was followed by a prolonged war, repeated reserve duty, the evacuation of communities, air raid sirens, missile attacks, time spent in bomb shelters, loss and uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look for some way to regulate ourselves,\u201d Lev-Ran said. \u201cThe brain learns: Before, I was stressed. I couldn\u2019t sleep, calm down or enjoy myself. I took something \u2014 and now I can. The brain is a good student, and it learns to repeat that action again and again. For some people, problematic use develops and, at the extreme end, addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amir was first exposed to drugs during his post-army backpacking trip, a common rite of passage for young Israelis after completing mandatory military service. At first, it was mainly cannabis, and later he experimented with stronger substances. But for years, he said, his drug use in Israel was rare: \u201cOnce in a while, if at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Oct. 7, that changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, my use has increased significantly, and so has the use among a lot of people around me,\u201d he said. \u201cI go to parties much more often and use a lot more drugs. It\u2019s no longer something that happens occasionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amir primarily uses mephedrone and ketamine, and sometimes cocaine, MDMA and ecstasy.<\/p>\n
The drugs provide several things at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey make me enjoy myself more and let go. But there\u2019s also an element of escape,\u201d he said. \u201cThose are a few hours when I don\u2019t have to think about what\u2019s happening here. I don\u2019t have to think about the war, the news and this whole reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the war began, he has been partying and using drugs nearly every weekend, with his use sometimes spilling into the middle of the week. Drugs are no longer confined to parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has seeped into almost everything,\u201d he said. \u201cIt happens at home, too, when I meet up with friends. And it\u2019s not easy for me to say this, but there are also times when I use alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
He and his friends have tried to set rules: weekends only. Never alone. Never before work.<\/p>\n \u201cBut most of the time, it doesn\u2019t really last,\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cI\u2019ve told myself quite a few times, \u2018This is the last time,\u2019 but in reality, it wasn\u2019t. The pattern always comes back.\u201d<\/p>\n If Amir had begun missing work, failing to complete assignments or running into financial trouble, it might have been easier to recognize that a line had been crossed. Instead, almost the opposite has happened.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the scary thing about this whole story. I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m paying a significant price in my professional life,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m good at what I do, I\u2019m successful and my trajectory is only going up.\u201d<\/p>\n There are days when he is more tired, takes less initiative and does only what is required of him. But he still considers those effects marginal.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see a clear impact from the parties and drugs on my success \u2014 and that\u2019s probably one of the things that keeps me going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n No one at work knows. Amir fears that if his drug use were discovered, colleagues would see him as unserious or irresponsible, damaging the professional standing he has built.<\/p>\n \u201cI make sure they don\u2019t find out,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s clear to me that if people at work knew, they would look at me differently.\u201d<\/p>\n But Amir himself is no longer convinced that everything is fine.<\/p>\n \u201cDeep down, I know I have a problem. I know I\u2019ve developed a dependence, and maybe some degree of addiction,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n During one recent period when he was using drugs almost every day, there was a physical price as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt really bad. I had chest pains and felt like my heart was going to explode. I even tried to seek help,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n He said that when he looked for treatment, he mainly encountered group-based options. His fear that someone might recognize him ultimately stopped him from pursuing them.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to join a group where someone might know me or tell someone else,\u201d he said. \u201cI was afraid people would find out. So in the end, I gave up on getting help.\u201d<\/p>\n Prof. Lev-Ran said Amir\u2019s story illustrates one of the major traps of addiction among successful, high-functioning people.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, this is a person with strengths. The fact is that he manages to keep going,\u201d Lev-Ran said. \u201cBut that\u2019s what is deceptive and paradoxical: The same strengths that help him keep going often also prevent him from seeking help because he hasn\u2019t yet reached the point of saying, \u2018I can\u2019t do this anymore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Society, he said, uses too narrow a definition of the word \u201cfunctioning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is functioning at work and functioning in school, but there is also functioning as a parent,\u201d he said. \u201cI may read a story to my children, and no one can accuse me of not functioning \u2014 but I\u2019m not really present.\u201d<\/p>\n Lev-Ran likens it to an iceberg. Above the waterline are the things that are easy to see: Did the person show up for work, submit the report, pay the bill or finish the assignment? Below the surface are their relationship with their body, relationships with others, romantic life, parenting, leisure and sense of self.<\/p>\n \u201cWork and school are sometimes the red line,\u201d he said. \u201cBelow that line, I tell myself I\u2019ve crashed. But the fact that I haven\u2019t crossed that red line doesn\u2019t mean everything is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n One way to think about substance use, he said, is as a relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s even the most stable relationship a person has. The state wasn\u2019t there for me, relationships can disappoint \u2014 but the substance is always there. It\u2019s loyal.\u201d<\/p>\n That is why, Lev-Ran said, the question is not simply whether someone clocked in for work in the morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is how this relationship affects my other relationships \u2014 my romantic relationship, friendships, parenting, family, money, leisure and my relationship with myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackie\u2019s story is very different. She is 40, divorced and a mother of two. For years, she was immersed in her studies and work. She used cannabis and occasionally experimented with other substances, but the party scene was barely part of her life.<\/p>\n In the years after her separation, she said, she went through a prolonged period of loneliness, family tensions and difficulty finding her place as a mother and partner. Then, in early 2025, she decided to go alone to an outdoor rave. The experience changed something in her.<\/p>\n![\"\u05e1\u05de\u05d9\u05dd\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/r1lczvRzTke_0_0_1000_667_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
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