Important Things to Know for
Participants and Victims of the Nova Music Festival 2023
(SUPERNOVA - UNIVERSO PARALELLO)
Dr. Tal Shany-Ur
English version: Dr. Sari Maril
On Saturday, October 7, 2023, you were participating in the Nova International Music Festival near Kibbutz Re'im when a tragic and complex event broke out. The attack, which began at sunrise during the festival’s peak, led to confusion and shock and made it difficult to distinguish the missiles and gunshots from the music. The transition from the incredible tribal atmosphere of the festival to a mass terrorist attack was surprising and extreme. This was a traumatic event.
A traumatic event is an extreme event that is accompanied by threat and helplessness, physical harm, or fear of such harm. Trauma can affect the body and the mind. Its effects vary between individuals, and may change over time. Increased stress in response to trauma is a normal reaction to an abnormal experience.
The following information is intended to give you knowledge and tools to deal with and recover from the trauma and its effects.
What happens to the body, mind and emotions during an emergency?
Under dangerous or threatening conditions, the functional systems of the brain and body exhibit automatic responses of various types: fight, flight and freeze. The brain automatically responds in ways meant to keep us safe and help us survive the threat. During this time, the brain continues to receive a lot of information that it is not free to process or understand because it is occupied with survival.
In the days and weeks after the event, when the real danger has passed and physical safety has improved, the brain continues to process what happened at the time of the trauma. Memories of the event may arise, with voices and sights coming up suddenly and without control. Every time such information arises (from memory or following an external event such as a story, a video, a recording, or any encounter that reminds us of the event), the body and mind can revert to a sense of danger. In addition, security incidents that continue to occur in Israel can increase mental burden.
We might feel distress and danger in the present, even though the initial traumatic event has passed. Uncontrollable survival reactions that seem unrelated to reality, such as fear and anxiety, stagnation, or anger may appear uncontrollably. These are natural reactions to an extreme and abnormal situation that we experienced not long ago, and they will not necessarily continue to occur in the future.
Reactions that can appear after a traumatic event (There is no single reaction that will appear. There may be a transition between them.):
These reactions are part of acute trauma, a common condition that usually improves and passes. Not all the responses necessarily appear, and it is possible to switch between them. In addition to the reactions described above, there can also be changes in physical functions during this period, such as appetite, sleep, and sexual function. Emotionally, there may be repeated thoughts about what happened and what could have happened. You may experience guilt, pessimistic thoughts, and even thoughts of death. If you or any of the people who were with you at the event are experiencing severe mental distress that includes an uncontrollable sense of disconnection from reality, or suicidal thoughts, it is recommended to contact an expert mental health professional (psychiatrist or psychologist) as soon as possible for an assessment, and not to be alone. If people close to you were harmed in the event and in the war in general, you might experience a sense of grief and loss in addition to the feeling of personal trauma.
The current situation can be very different from normal times, and there may be many more changes that have not been described. Feelings like "I'm not myself" will now occur regularly. It is very important not to be ashamed of the situation, to accept the current difficulty, to ask for support and help from the immediate environment and, if necessary, from professionals, and to accept support.
Mind-altering substances
At the time of the event, you might have been under the influence of mind-altering substances, which affected the way you perceived and processed information and acted. Your consciousness and senses underwent a radical change and a sharp transition from happiness, joy and human love to threat and danger. Mind-altering substances can have different effects under such circumstances, such as dimming the experience, intensifying it, changing/distorting the perception of reality, or causing feelings of detachment and difficulty remembering the event in an orderly manner. If you were under the influence of mind-altering substances at the time of the event - this is an integral part of your experience. It can increase your feelings of helplessness and confusion, which makes a lot of sense. It is recommended to discuss this aspect of your experience with professionals.
What can help? What should you do?
After acute trauma, the brain operates in a state of danger and emergency, even after the level of threat present during the event itself has decreased. The emergency system goes into overdrive and the regulatory system is less effective. The signs of the trauma are trapped in the body and we have ways to unload and release them, recover, and later, even to grow. Here are some things you can do to cope:
Physical techniques for relaxation and grounding - recommended when you experience intense emotional flooding, anxiety, or restlessness
Regulation and relaxation through breathing:
Deep breathing: Start by exhaling as much as possible, and then a little more. Take a breath and fill your stomach and chest. Hold your breath for a few seconds and note how your body feels (you should not feel difficulty breathing), and then slowly release all the air. Repeat this several times and check if the distress has decreased.
You can put your right hand on your heart and your left hand on your stomach and breathe for a few moments in this position.
Physiological sigh: Slowly inhale air through your nose until you are no longer able to, take another short inhalation through your nose, and then let all the air out through your mouth, giving a sigh of relief. Repeat this 2-3 times and check if there is an improvement.
Box breathing: Divide your breathing into four sections - inhaling, holding, exhaling, and stopping - counting to 4 during each section, such that you inhale and count to 4, stop and count to 4, exhale and count to 4, and stop again for 4 counts. Repeat this a few times and check if your feeling has improved.
Activating the senses:
Focus on the sensation of touch in one area of the body (hand, leg, face). You can use one hand to touch the other hand, or your leg or face. Describe the sensation in a few words, then move to another area and describe the sensation there.
Hug yourself and stay in the position for at least one minute. You can ask people nearby who you feel safe with for a hug and for physical closeness, which calms and activates security and regulatory systems.
Activate your senses and thinking: look around and say the names and colors of various items you see (for example, I see a green plant, I see a white wall). You can do the same using your sense of hearing (for example, I hear a car, I hear a bird).
Movement:
Walk or stand on the ground with attention and stability.
Connect your two hands in front of your heart in a position of prayer.
Butterfly hug: Cross your arms and hug yourself or place your hands crossed on your hips. Drum with alternating hands for a minute or more.
If you feel you need to unload and release tension and energy, that is fine. You can participate in physical activities, but please maintain your physical and mental safety and refrain from overloading.
Thinking activation techniques - recommended when you experience repetitive thoughts about what happened, confusion, involuntary recollections of the event, and difficulty being alone with the content that arises
We can use our thinking in several ways, depending on the situation and the need. We try to bring order to the experience through thoughts and to consider the following questions: what happened to me, what is happening to me now, and what can I do now?
What happened to me? If you feel confused or overwhelmed about what happened during the event, and have an urgent need to talk about it - it can be helpful to tell someone who you are close to or a professional about the event. Try to tell the story in the first person, in chronological order, and to emphasize the actions you took. It's okay to say how you felt. It’s important to focus on the things that helped you cope. It is not recommended to repeat the story in an overly intensive manner. If you feel a need to repeat the event and your feelings again and again, find it impossible to stop, and have difficulty returning to the present - please contact a trauma specialist. Note that repeating certain types of content can create immense mental difficulty.
What is happening to me? If you feel things are happening that are different than usual, try to explain the situation to yourself from a place of understanding. For example, you could say to yourself: I understand what is happening to me. A few days ago I experienced a very threatening event. Something that just happened brought me back to the event. I am now remembering the event and feeling danger again, even though I am protected. It's fine and natural for feelings and emotions to arise. I remind myself that I am no longer in danger, but my mind, body, and soul are still overwhelmed and do not know that the event has already passed. It won't be this way forever.
What can I do? When you experience anxiety, restlessness, or other unpleasant feelings, after reducing the intensity of the emotion through relaxation or assistance from others, try to move on to performing an action that you are able to perform, for example getting up, walking and moving your body, preparing a drink or food, or doing simple things at home. If you find it difficult to be alone - that's fine. You should ask for support from people in your immediate environment. It’s important to be attentive to your needs and to make adjustments, such as asking someone to be with you now, to maintain basic activities. This is how it is now. What is happening now will not last forever, coping progresses in stages.
What is not recommended?
You've been through a lot. Your mind, body, and consciousness are full of information that you still need to process and digest. You may feel that it's important to connect to the media, social and otherwise - it's an automatic impulse related to the sense of ongoing danger, but it's very important not to expose yourself to additional information at this stage, especially videos and personal detailed stories. Exposure overwhelms the survival system, which still needs to recover from the event. We know how hard it is to avoid seeing videos and other written or recorded materials. Research on coping with trauma shows it is important not to create information overload at this point. When these things come up outside your control- that's fine, you can go back to self-help techniques. Later, when the current acute situation subsides, you’ll be able to deal with additional information, exercising discretion. At present, it's useless. You should allow your system to deal with what happened and not burden it beyond that.
In conclusion, it's good that you took the time to read these pages. You went through an extreme experience and this is the time to be very attentive and compassionate towards yourself. In the coming period, it’s important to give yourself time for recovery, not to expect to feel like yourself within a few days, and not to panic if you don’t. It’s important to be in touch with your needs and give yourself the necessary space and resources to cope.
The event you went through was difficult, sudden and unique, and we know you have the strength to cope. Still, people you are close to and professionals can help you on this path, in the short term and in the long term. It's okay to be supported by the people you’re close to, and, if necessary, you should also seek support or therapy. Even if you have never been helped by a mental health professional - targeted support at this time can help and there is nothing to be ashamed of.
We hope that the highlights and tools we have provided will help you cope. If you decide you need to talk to a professional - Please contact:
Help Center: 03-3110923 https://www.novasupport.org/en
Professional content: Dr. Tal Shany-Ur & Tami Rosen
Editing and production: Neta Heller. Graphic design: Ella Dagni
October 2023
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