Depression is among the world’s most common and debilitating health conditions. Affecting an estimated 300 million people, it is a leading cause of years lived with disability.
In Israel, the economic burden of depression alone is estimated to be between NIS 12 billion and NIS 16 billion annually, driven primarily by lost workdays and reduced productivity. Recent modeling by NATAL suggests that the broader mental health consequences of the ongoing war could cost the Israeli economy roughly NIS 500b. over the next five years.
Although existing treatments help many patients, a substantial gap remains between clinical need and effective relief. Antidepressants such as SSRIs and structured psychotherapies have transformed outcomes for countless individuals, yet one in three patients fails to achieve adequate symptom reduction, even after multiple treatment attempts.
For those with treatment-resistant or recurrent depression, cycling through similar medications – while waiting weeks for potential improvement – is far from sufficient. Each additional month of uncontrolled depression results in more sick days, reduced productivity, and higher long-term disability rates.
In the past decade, interest has grown in novel approaches, including rapid-acting antidepressants and psychedelic-assisted therapies. Controlled studies show that these interventions can provide meaningful and relatively rapid improvement for some individuals with severe or treatment-resistant depression.
Four-fold return on investment for money spent treating anxiety and depression: WHO
The World Health Organization estimates that every dollar invested in treating depression and anxiety yields a fourfold return through improved productivity and reduced healthcare expenditures. For a country whose primary resource is human capital, failing to address depression effectively is not only a public-health challenge but also an economic mistake.
Alongside full psychedelic-assisted protocols, researchers worldwide are also exploring “psychedelic-inspired” treatments aimed at preserving therapeutic benefits while offering improved safety, shorter sessions, and better integration into routine care. These approaches are still in their early stages and require rigorous clinical evaluation and regulatory oversight, but they represent the kind of innovation that could shorten recovery times and reduce the long-term economic burden associated with depression.
From a public-health standpoint, the key question extends beyond efficacy: Who will gain access to these new treatments if they prove effective? If innovations remain confined to a limited number of costly private clinics, health disparities will widen, and much of Israel’s human potential will remain untapped.
A national strategy for depression must prioritize improved outcomes for patients who do not respond to existing therapies and ensure equitable access to any evidence-based interventions that emerge.
The challenge now is to act on what we already know so that progress in mental health treatment becomes a benefit for all, not a privilege reserved for the few.
The writer is former associate director-general of the Israeli Health Ministry and chairman of PsyRx, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company developing a novel, mechanism-based treatment aimed at improving outcomes for patients with treatment-resistant depression.