Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing)
October 1, 2022
Jenna M Traynor, Daniel E Roberts, Stephen Ross et al.
14 citations
Borderline personality disorder is a complex psychiatric condition with limited and often ineffective treatment options, high variability in patient response, and frequent dropout from therapy. This review considers the potential of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) as a new or complementary treatment. Based on MDMA-AP's promise in treating overlapping disorders like posttraumatic stress disorder, the authors propose initial treatment targets and hypothesized mechanisms of change grounded in prior literature and theory. They also outline considerations for designing clinical trials to investigate the safety, feasibility, and preliminary effects of MDMA-AP for borderline personality disorder.
Neuropharmacology
July 1, 2025
Brennan M Carrithers, Daniel E Roberts, Brandon M Weiss et al.
4 citations
Psychedelic therapy may hold potential for treating personality disorders by promoting adaptive changes in personality, though rigorous research is lacking. This review first examines research on psychedelics in individuals with personality disorders using the DSM-5-TR categorical model, then applies the dimensional DSM-AMPD framework to explore how psychedelics might affect self-functioning, interpersonal functioning, and pathological personality traits. The authors discuss clinical relevance, safety considerations, gaps, and recommendations for treating these complex populations.
PsyArXiv
March 26, 2026
Broc A Pagni, Stephen Ross, Sarah Mennenga et al.
preprint
An open-label extension of a Phase II randomized controlled trial examined the safety and efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder. Participants who had received either psilocybin or placebo in the main trial were offered two open-label psilocybin sessions. The treatment was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events attributed to psilocybin. Heavy drinking days decreased substantially from baseline, and the reduction was sustained through the 32-week follow-up. The findings suggest that psilocybin-assisted therapy may produce durable reductions in alcohol consumption among individuals with alcohol use disorder.