Healing overloaded minds: How Israel's prolonged war is affecting memory, concentration

Israel's prolonged war is taking a significant toll on the mental well-being of its citizens, manifesting as "Continuous Traumatic Stress" (CTS), according to Dr. Mike Gropper.

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I’m functioning, but I’m not myself. I can’t make simple decisions. I forget things. My brain feels stuck.

Dana, a 42-year-old mother of three, described feeling "stuck" and unable to make simple decisions or remember things, despite not being depressed or anxious. Her experience, characterized by constant unfocused exhaustion and disconnection, is a textbook example of CTS. This occurs when the nervous system remains in a high-arousal state due to an ongoing threat, compromising the prefrontal cortex and leading to forgetfulness and distractibility.

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Do you think this is the beginning of Alzheimer’s?

A national survey by the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute confirms the widespread impact, revealing that about 19% of the public has suffered functional impairment directly linked to the protracted conflict. This is presented not as a personal failing but as a predictable physiological reaction to collective, long-term stress.

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This is not a personal failure; it is a predictable, physiological response to collective, long-term stress.

Elderly individuals are also affected, with 82-year-old Yitzhak fearing the onset of Alzheimer's due to memory lapses. However, his cognitive difficulties were attributed to the immense emotional weight of his grandson's combat duty and anxieties about the future. Studies indicate that stress-related cognitive changes can mimic early dementia, particularly in older adults whose nervous systems struggle under heavy emotional burdens.

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When the nervous system is overloaded, even healthy brains, and particularly aging ones, struggle to keep information, recall names, and maintain focus.