Section 07 — Wellbeing
Your Wellbeing Matters
Fighting hate is exhausting. Taking care of yourself is not optional — it is essential. Your mental health is the foundation of your ability to show up, speak out, and thrive.
Impact
Impact of Antisemitism on Mental Health
Since October 7, 2023, Jewish college students have reported dramatic increases in anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation. Research from the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International shows that the psychological toll of campus hostility extends far beyond individual incidents — it reshapes how students experience their entire college lives.
Anxiety & Hypervigilance
Constant scanning for threats. Difficulty concentrating in class. Sleep disruption. Physical symptoms like racing heart, stomach issues, and headaches that have no other medical explanation.
Imposter Syndrome & Identity
Being told your identity is "problematic" creates deep internal conflict. Students question whether they deserve to be on campus, whether being Jewish makes them complicit, or whether they should just assimilate and hide.
Social Isolation
Friends who don't understand. Activist spaces that feel hostile. The loneliness of watching communities you thought cared about justice stay silent when it's your group under attack.
Depression & Hopelessness
Feeling like nothing will change. Watching the news cycle move on while your campus stays hostile. The exhaustion of having to educate, defend, and advocate just to exist.
Anger & Burnout
Righteous anger is valid but consuming. Activist burnout is real. When every conversation becomes about antisemitism, students lose the ability to simply be college students.
Trauma Responses
For students with Holocaust-survivor families, campus hostility can trigger intergenerational trauma. Swastikas on dorm walls are not abstract — they are a direct link to family history.
Resilience
Plan
Hover a strategy to explore it — click to pin.
Crisis Support
Crisis Resources — Available 24/7
Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741741
Free, 24/7 crisis support via text
National Suicide Prevention
988 (call or text)
Free, confidential support for anyone in distress
SAMHSA Helpline
1-800-662-4357
Mental health and substance abuse referrals
Campus Counseling Center
Check your university website
Free for enrolled students, usually same-day urgent appointments
A Deeper Strength
Beyond Victimhood
In her acclaimed book People Love Dead Jews, author Dara Horn2 examines how the world celebrates Jewish suffering in memorials and museums while showing indifference to living Jews facing hatred today. Her work exposes a trap: when Jewish identity becomes defined primarily by persecution, it cedes power to the persecutors.
The “Builder” strategy rejects this trap. Instead of centering Jewish identity around victimhood, it builds from Jewish pride: our 5,000-year civilization, our contributions to every field of human endeavor, our traditions of justice and learning, our joy in community and celebration.
This does not mean ignoring antisemitism. It means refusing to let antisemitism define you. Your Jewish identity is not a wound — it is a world.
Allyship
For Friends & Allies
If you are not Jewish but you care about someone who is, here is how you can make a real difference. Your support matters more than you know — even when you do not know exactly what to say.
What Helps
- • "I see what is happening and I am sorry. How can I support you?"
- • Check in privately — a simple text means the world
- • Show up to Jewish events and stand with your friends visibly
- • Educate yourself so Jewish students don't have to explain everything
- • Amplify Jewish voices on your own social media
- • Call out antisemitism when you see it, even when no Jewish people are present
What Hurts
- × "Both sides" rhetoric that equates victims with aggressors
- × Ignoring antisemitism because it does not fit your framework
- × Asking Jewish students to prove their suffering or "just debate better"
- × Expecting Jewish friends to educate you while they are in crisis
- × Staying silent because you are afraid of social consequences
- × Telling Jewish people what is and is not antisemitic
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
63% of Jewish college students report increased anxiety, sleep disruption, and intrusive thoughts since October 2023. Taking care of yourself is not optional — it is essential.
Anti-Defamation League & Hillel International, Campus Climate Survey, 2023–2024. adl.org.
Sources
- ADL & Hillel International campus climate surveys, 2023–2024. adl.org
- Dara Horn, People Love Dead Jews (W. W. Norton, 2021).