MDMA may have protected survivors of Nova attack from trauma, study suggests

[Jagube]

As dawn approached on the morning of 7 October 2023, many of the partygoers at the Nova music festival near Gaza's border took illegal recreational drugs like MDMA or LSD.
Hundreds of them were high when, shortly after sunrise, Hamas gunmen attacked the site. Now neuroscientists working with survivors from the festival say there are early signs that MDMA - also known as ecstasy or molly - may have provided some psychological protection against trauma.

Hamas gunmen killed 360 people and kidnapped dozens more at the festival site where 3,500 people had been partying. "We had people hiding under the bodies of their friends for hours while on LSD or MDMA," said Prof Roy Salomon, one of those leading the research.

The research tracked the psychological responses of more than 650 survivors from the festival. Two-thirds of these were under the influence of recreational drugs including MDMA, LSD, marijuana or psilocybin - the compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms - before the attacks took place.

"MDMA, and especially MDMA that was not mixed with anything else, was the most protective," the study has found, according to Prof Salomon.

He said those on MDMA during the attack appeared to cope much better mentally in the first five months afterwards, when a lot of processing takes place.
"They were sleeping better, had less mental distress - they were doing better than people who didn't take any substance," he said.

The team believes pro-social hormones triggered by the drug - such as oxytocin, which helps promote bonding - helped reduce fear and boost feelings of camaraderie between those fleeing the attack.
And even more importantly, they say, it appears to have left survivors more open to receiving love and support from their families and friends once they were home.

MDMA may have protected Nova attack survivors from trauma, study suggests

Neuroscientists in Israel find signs that the drug helped festival survivors in the attack and the aftermath.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Varallo]

Read the article here. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11403159/pdf/WPS-23-452.pdf

It’s remarkable that the bbc reports this without any actual criticism of the article itself and seems to ignore the total lack of rigor. The quote “MDMA, and especially MDMA that was not mixed with anything else, was the most protective," the study has found, according to Prof Salomon. Is based on 7 participants that where preselected, on a total of n=123. This Professor needs to go back to first year statistics class.

 

[Jagube]

Thanks for posting the source.
Yeah, it's a small sample and the BBC could have done a better job.

 

[Tripolation]

It appears that those that consumed alcohol had the opposite effect.

So, in marked contrast to our expectations, we found that only pre- trauma alcohol consumption, with or without other drugs, significantly increased the risk of peri- traumatic dissociation, anxiety, depression, and ASD symptoms.

Very interesting article. My heart goes out to the victims.

 

[highalt]

It makes sense. There is a lot going on to unpack but some protective factors would have been the emotional openness. Trauma often ensues when rigidity kicks in and the person defines a narrative and then becomes defensive over that narrative. The narrative, in a self defeating way although never deliberately intentional by the individual, becomes the very thing the person holds onto even though it inevitably leads them to trauma. MDMA (why it's so powerful as a therapeutic medicine) inhibits this significantly. Another is the cocktail of chemicals such as oxytocin that were likely flowing. The likelihood of trauma is lessened when deep meaningful social connection is possible. The feeling of belonging to a flowing sea of connected individuals moving in the same direction would have had several effects, one being the lessening of preoccupation with self and moving towards unification with the group. Another factor is the environment. A festival like that had been purposefully designed to create a temporary utopian community based haven from everyday life. This disconnection from the mundane 9-5 grind of everyday life probably also detached common associations people had with events, both before and after the attack and created a different intepretation, one that insulated them from making conclusions that reinforced preconceived notions of what was/is/had happening/happened. They probably didn't expect gunmen to attack a psychedelic themed festival but if you had placed that festival in a busy city centre surrounded by crime, homelessness, sirens blaring in the background from police patrol cars and the general urban grime and decay, it would be easier to make those associations because the environment influences those associations. Tied to this you have societal and cultural influences. A psychedelic theme festival is positive. It's about love, unity, peace, transcendence, spirituality etc. In another context, like a warehouse in some shady part of town with the presence of police, security guards and dark alleyways surrounding the venue, you're already being conditioned to some degree in the associations you make

 

[ommani]

It makes sense. There is a lot going on to unpack but some protective factors would have been the emotional openness. Trauma often ensues when rigidity kicks in and the person defines a narrative and then becomes defensive over that narrative. The narrative, in a self defeating way although never deliberately intentional by the individual, becomes the very thing the person holds onto even though it inevitably leads them to trauma. MDMA (why it's so powerful as a therapeutic medicine) inhibits this significantly. Another is the cocktail of chemicals such as oxytocin that were likely flowing. The likelihood of trauma is lessened when deep meaningful social connection is possible. The feeling of belonging to a flowing sea of connected individuals moving in the same direction would have had several effects, one being the lessening of preoccupation with self and moving towards unification with the group. Another factor is the environment. A festival like that had been purposefully designed to create a temporary utopian community based haven from everyday life. This disconnection from the mundane 9-5 grind of everyday life probably also detached common associations people had with events, both before and after the attack and created a different intepretation, one that insulated them from making conclusions that reinforced preconceived notions of what was/is/had happening/happened. They probably didn't expect gunmen to attack a psychedelic themed festival but if you had placed that festival in a busy city centre surrounded by crime, homelessness, sirens blaring in the background from police patrol cars and the general urban grime and decay, it would be easier to make those associations because the environment influences those associations. Tied to this you have societal and cultural influences. A psychedelic theme festival is positive. It's about love, unity, peace, transcendence, spirituality etc. In another context, like a warehouse in some shady part of town with the presence of police, security guards and dark alleyways surrounding the venue, you're already being conditioned to some degree in the associations you make

The participants of this festival, innocent as they were, were most certainly conditioned (to think in terms of us/good, them/bad). Furthermore, this “festival… that had been purposefully designed to create a temporary utopian community based haven from everyday life” was held on land that had been the home of people who’s villages were destroyed mere decades ago, and who were forced into what has been referred to as the world’s largest open air prison, adjacent to the festival grounds. While I don’t mean to minimize or negate the loss and trauma of those involved, holding and attending a psychedelic music festival on the border of Gaza is/was insane, in my view.

 

[Jamie01]

Yes how unifying it would be to be running as a group watching my friends be murdered.

I dunno sounds pretty damn traumatizing even while rolling balls.