Magic Mushrooms, MDMA, and Borderline Personality Disorder | Can Psychedelics Heal BPD?

Psychedelics are being hailed as the next revolution in mental health. Psilocybin for depression, MDMA for PTSD, ayahuasca with DMT for trauma. But where does that leave people with Borderline Personality Disorder?In this episode we explore what the research actually shows, powerful, conflicting lived experiences, the potential risks for people with BPD, and the deep questions around ego, identity, and healing. Trigger Warning: This episode contains frank discussion of psychedelics, mental health treatment, and sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and let’s keep the conversation going.🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation: 📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org📚 Referenced Research Includes:Brittain, N., Higgins, N., Barber, M. et al. Ethical Issues and Recommendations in Psychedelic Research and Practice: A Scoping Review. Bioethical Inquiry (2025). ⁠⁠https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-025-10454-3⁠⁠Carhart-Harris, R. L., Erritzoe, D., Williams, T., Stone, J. M., Reed, L. J., Colasanti, A., ... & Nutt, D. J. (2012). Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(6), 2138-2143. ⁠⁠https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1119598109⁠⁠Gordon, A. R., Carrithers, B. M., Pagni, B. A., Kettner, H., Marrocu, A., Nayak, S., ... & Zeifman, R. J. (2024). The effect of psychedelics on individuals with a personality disorder: results from two prospective cohort studies. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4203641/v2Martire, G., Sipple, D., Baron, D., Gold, M. S., Lewandowski, K. U., Dennen, C. A., ... & Blum, K. (2024). Theorizing that Psychedelic Assisted Therapy May Play a Role in the Treatment of Trauma-Induced Personality Disorders. Journal of addiction psychiatry, 8(2), 161.Mitchell, J. M., Bogenschutz, M., Lilienstein, A., Harrison, C., Kleiman, S., Parker-Guilbert, K., ... & Doblin, R. (2021). MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study. Nature medicine, 27(6), 1025-1033. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01336-3Traynor, J. M., Roberts, D. E., Ross, S., Zeifman, R., & Choi-Kain, L. (2022). MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder. Focus, 20(4), 358-367. ⁠⁠https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20220056⁠⁠Walsh, Z., Mollaahmetoglu, O. M., Rootman, J., Golsof, S., Keeler, J., Marsh, B., ... & Morgan, C. J. (2022). Ketamine for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders: comprehensive systematic review. BJPsych open, 8(1), e19. doi:10.1192/bjo.2021.1061Zeifman, R. J., & Wagner, A. C. (2020). Exploring the case for research on incorporating psychedelics within interventions for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 15, 1-11. ⁠⁠https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.11.001⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/06/250603114816.htm⁠