Political grief and ambiguous loss in a threatened democracy: psychological distress and civic responses during Israel’s judicial reform

Background: Political transitions can have profound mental health effects, yet political grief remains underexplored. Drawing on ambiguous loss and grief theory, this study examined how perceived democratic backsliding during Israel’s 2023 judicial reform affected psychological distress and civic engagement. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 453 Israeli adults opposing the reform. Measures included political ambiguous loss (PAL), political grief (adapted PG-13 scale), psychological distress (DASS-21), political efficacy, and protest participation. Results: 64.9% of participants exceeded the PG-13 threshold, indicating elevated political grief. Moderate to severe depression, stress, and anxiety were reported by 32.0%, 26.3%, and 10.8% of participants, respectively. Political grief fully mediated the relationship between PAL and distress, accounting for 41% of the variance in depression, 30% in anxiety, and 36% in stress, controlling for socio-demographic variables. Logistic regression showed that higher stress, political efficacy, and PAL predicted protest participation, while higher anxiety predicted non-participation. Conclusion: Findings highlight the psychological toll of democratic backsliding and identify political grief as a distinct emotional response linking political ambiguous loss to public mental health. Collective grief functions both as a psychological burden and as a mobilizing force. Recognizing such grief at the national level and implementing community-based mental health interventions are crucial to supporting populations during political crises.