Festivalgoers who consumed MDMA, LSD and other party drugs may have had psychological protection against trauma both during and after the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas in 2023, a study has claimed. Hundreds attending the party were high on illegal recreational drugs when shortly after sunrise, Hamas gunmen, carrying AK-47 assault rifles, attacked the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel, near the Gaza border.
The study, carried out by scientists at Israel’s Haifa University is currently being peer-reviewed but sheds light on the intriguing use case of the drugs that are often a subject of taboo. The researchers analysed the psychological responses of over 650 festival survivors – two-thirds of whom had taken MDMA, LSD, marijuana or psilocybin (magic mushrooms) before the attack.
“We had people hiding under the bodies of their friends for hours while on LSD or MDMA,” Prof Roy Salomon, one of those leading the research told BBC.
“There’s talk that a lot of these substances create plasticity in the brain, so the brain is more open to change. But what happens if you endure this plasticity in such a terrible situation – is it going to be worse, or better?”
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The study found that MDMA, better known as molly or ecstasy, when not mixed with anything else, was the most protective. Those hopped on MDMA managed to cope much better mentally in the first five months afterwards, when a lot of processing takes place.
Hormones such as oxytocin, triggered by the drug, promote bonding which may have helped reduce the fear and boost feeling of camaraderie among the partygoers who were attempting to flee the attack.
“They were sleeping better, had less mental distress – they were doing better than people who didn’t take any substance,” Mr Salomon added.
Michal Ohana, one of the survivors said she would have frozen or collapsed on the floor or in the worst-case scenario — killed or captured by the gunmen if she had not been high.
“I feel like it saved my life, because I was so high, like I’m not in the real world. Because regular humans can’t see all these things – it’s not normal.”
Notably, Hamas militants killed 360 people and kidnapped dozens more at the festival site where 3,500 people had been partying.
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