Survivors of the October 7, 2023 Supernova festival attack in Israel who were under the influence of MDMA during the trauma reported feeling less overwhelmed, had more social interactions, better sleep quality, and reduced psychological distress compared to survivors not using any substance. In contrast, those who consumed cannabis or alcohol during the attack reported higher psychological distress, more PTSD symptoms, and worse sleep quality. The findings suggest MDMA's known effects of reducing negative emotions and increasing prosociality may have buffered trauma impact, while cannabis and alcohol had deleterious effects. The study included 772 adult survivors assessed one to four months after the attack.
The sense of self is a core part of normal human consciousness, but it can be altered in psychiatric conditions like psychosis and in altered states induced by psychedelics. Using the Moving Rubber Hand Illusion with 75 participants—patients with psychosis, people with substantial psychedelic experience, and controls—the study tested how these experiences affect the bodily self. Psychosis patients showed reduced Body Ownership and Sense of Agency during voluntary movement. The psychedelic group reported long-lasting subjective changes to selfhood, but no differences from controls appeared on the bodily-self measures. Thus, while psychedelics alter the subjective sense of self, these changes do not manifest at the bodily level, whereas bodily self-processing linked to voluntary action is disrupted in psychosis.