Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41217093›Full record

ArticleJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2026

Facing trauma under the influence of psychedelics: A phenomenological study with Nova rave survivors.

Guy Simon, Maya Gal-Birman, Nir Tadmor, Demian Halperin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Guy SimonDepartment of Sociology and Anthropology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.ORCID 0009-0002-9871-0934
Maya Gal-BirmanImpulse Integrative Clinical Center, Haifa, Israel.
Nir TadmorImpulse Integrative Clinical Center, Haifa, Israel.
Demian HalperinImpulse Integrative Clinical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID 0000-0003-3695-2161

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe October 7th, 2023, attack at the Nova rave represents an unprecedented scenario in trauma research: A mass casualty event in which most participants were under the influence of psychedelics.

methodsUsing a mixed-methods phenomenological design, 45 survivors were interviewed. Participants were categorized by substance use: classic psychedelics (

resultsFindings point toward a dissociative phenomenon we name "adaptive psychedelic dissociation," characterized by a combination of traumatic and psychedelic dissociative features: emotional detachment, derealization and depersonalization, automatic behaviors, and preserved functionality. Participants' awareness and knowledge about their substance use created an "epistemic container," which may have facilitated real-time containment of traumatic input while complicating later meaning-making. A neurophenomenological pattern emerged wherein psychedelic subjective effects appeared suppressed during the acute trauma exposure, resurging after the threat was over. Quantitative analysis showed a predominantly positive subjective impact of substance use on immediate survival (75%-79%) and emotional coping (83%-84%) but mixed outcomes in aftermath processing (42%-53% positive and 25%-26% negative).

conclusionsPsychedelic-induced dissociation during trauma exposure may confer acute adaptive benefits while causing integration challenges a paradox with significant implications on trauma research. This singular perspective on the psychedelic-trauma interface invites further research into these complex neuropsychological interactions. Psychedelics may serve as epistemological instruments, revealing cognitive processes and unique prisms through which trauma response, psychopathology, resilience, and the adaptive capacities of the human mind under extreme conditions can be re-examined.

Indexed as

Dissociative DisordersHallucinogensSurvivorsAdaptation, PsychologicalAdultCoping SkillsFemaleHumansKetamineMaleMiddle AgedSubstance-Related DisordersYoung AdultHallucinogensKetamineadaptive psychedelic dissociationphenomenological analysispsychedelic-assisted trauma processingpsychedelicstemporal distortiontrauma

Identifiers

PMID41217093
PMCPMC13310278

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