“That is a very unique finding — it was never reported before, because it was never studied before, because it never happened before,” said Roee Admon, one of the study’s lead researchers.
Admon explained that while trauma research is well established, the attack on a gathering like the Nova festival has opened a new window into the effects of trauma under the influence of mind-altering substances.
“We don’t know anything about the response to trauma when people, during the attack or traumatic event, are under the influence of specific substances like cannabis, alcohol, and psychedelics like LSD and MDMA,” he said, adding that such a mass trauma event, where around 4,000 people were exposed to the same elements at the same time, is rare.
“I would feel like if something like that happened to me, I would want to be as much in control as possible, clean from any foreign influences or substances,” said Admon. “But that’s not what we found, and that’s why it was very surprising.”
Still, Admon was quick to caution that while MDMA may have offered a psychological buffer, the overall levels of PTSD among Nova survivors remained extremely high.
He also noted that the study was limited by “survivor bias”, as researchers cannot learn from those killed in the attack.
‘Love drug’
At the Nova memorial, Klein-Weinstein said he is still struggling with trauma and has been undergoing therapy. Still, he believes the MDMA he took that night may have eased his symptoms somewhat.
But, he added, he did not want people to think MDMA “saved us or protected us… I don’t know anybody who didn’t die because they were on MDMA. They were just as vulnerable as anyone else, and we were all in the same situation.”