Borderline personality
Since 2012 we have held a medically supervised iboga retreat on the Mayan Riviera near Cancun, Mexico. A traditional Missoko Bwiti ceremony is paired with a psychologist, then three months of follow-up at home. If you live with emotions that swing hard, a deep fear of being left, or a sense of emptiness, this page explains how we help, and when we would ask you to wait.
If you are thinking of ending your life or hurting yourself right now, call or text 988 in the United States or Canada, at any hour. A retreat can wait. You matter more than any date.
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Holding Steady
Borderline personality: the ceremony, the numbers, the research and how to prepare.
How it works
Borderline personality is not a flaw in who you are. It is a pattern of pain that often began early, and people with it change over time far more than they are usually told. What we offer is a careful frame for one part of that work.
No study has tested iboga or ibogaine for borderline personality disorder. What follows is our experience with 7,677 guests since 2012. It is a supervised opening alongside therapy such as DBT, never a replacement for it.
Every guest has a medical screening and bloodwork before travel. The physician reviews every medicine with your prescribing doctor, then stays in the room through the ceremony.
The Missoko Bwiti tradition of Gabon holds the night with music, fire and people who stay beside you until morning. For someone who fears being left, that steady company matters. Many guests describe seeing their own story with more kindness.
Tania, our psychologist, screens you, builds a crisis plan with you before you travel, then guides the life review the day after. Three months of integration calls follow. With your consent, we work with your own therapist.
How iboga acts on the brain
Iboga root bark contains ibogaine, which the body turns into noribogaine, a compound that stays for days. In lab studies, noribogaine acts on the kappa opioid system, part of how the brain handles stress. Ibogaine also raises serotonin signaling, a little like an antidepressant. In theory, both could touch the emotional storms of borderline personality. Opioids may help hold human bonds together, but no study links ibogaine to attachment.
In animal studies, a single dose switches on growth-factor genes in reward circuits, which may relate to plasticity, the brain's ability to form new patterns. In people, an open-label study of 30 veterans reported large drops in PTSD, depression and anxiety one month after ibogaine, with no control group (Cherian et al., Nature Medicine, 2024). None of this shows an effect on borderline personality. Read more on how iboga works.
What we have seen since 2012
Since 2012, with 7,677 guests, we have seen a traditional treatment help people with this kind of struggle, sometimes profoundly and lastingly. Guests who carry intense emotions often describe a long night of looking at their life from a little distance: the old hurts, the people they pushed away, the moments they turned the pain on themselves.
Afterwards, many speak of more room between a feeling and what they do with it. Many also describe a gentler inner voice. Some notice little change. This is our experience, not a clinical study, and it does not replace the slow, steady work of therapy. The guests who do best usually return home to a therapist they trust.
Who holds it
Michael and Cory open and hold the ceremony. Tania, our psychologist with close to a decade at Mexico's National Institute of Psychiatry, screens for what iboga cannot hold and carries the integration. Dr Villarreal keeps the body safe.
Safety
Borderline personality carries a real risk of suicide. In a study that followed 290 former inpatients for 24 years, 5.9% died by suicide. We say this plainly because it shapes everything we do. The psychologist asks about self-harm and suicidal thoughts directly, without judgment.
Psychedelic medicines are not proven safe for personality disorders. Among people using psychedelics on their own, one small study suggested a higher risk of feeling worse a month later for those who reported a personality disorder. Under the medicine, fear of abandonment, anger or dissociation may grow stronger for a while. So nobody comes without a written crisis plan and an aftercare plan at home.
Mania has been reported after unsupervised ibogaine in people with no history of bipolar disorder, so we screen for mood swings that may be bipolar. Never stop a medicine on your own: our physician plans any change with your prescribing doctor. A heart condition needs a careful look first: read how we protect your heart.
Who it is for
The psychologist and the physician decide together. Sometimes the kindest answer is a later date, after more time in therapy.
Adults 18 or older with a borderline diagnosis or borderline traits who are stable enough today, in ongoing therapy or ready to start it, with people at home who support them. People who want to look at their story with care, and who agree to a crisis plan before they come.
Suicidal thoughts with a plan or intent, a suicide attempt in the past six months, frequent self-harm right now, bipolar disorder, psychosis or a family history of it, or pregnancy. Heavy current drinking or drug use needs its own plan first. Like research trials, we would rather wait than take a risk with your life.
Why it is hard
One leading theory holds that a sensitive temperament meets an environment that does not answer it well, and the two feed each other over years. It is a theory, not proof, and it is not about blame. About 1.4% of US adults live with borderline personality in a given year.
The hopeful part is real. In a study that followed 290 former inpatients for ten years, 93% had their symptoms ease for at least two years. Rebuilding work, friendships and daily life took longer: half reached full recovery. That gap is where steady support matters most.
How to cope
You are not too much, and you are not beyond help. The strongest evidence is for therapy designed for borderline personality, above all dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and mentalization-based treatment (MBT).
Ask for a therapist trained in DBT or MBT. A Cochrane review of 75 trials with 4,507 people found these therapies reduced the severity of borderline symptoms compared with usual care. In one trial of 101 suicidal women, those in DBT were half as likely to attempt suicide.
No medicine is approved for borderline personality itself. A doctor may still prescribe one for depression, anxiety or sleep. Between sessions, a written safety plan helps: your warning signs, what calms you, who to call. If you love someone with borderline personality, look after yourself too: steady, honest limits help more than walking on eggshells. The NAMI HelpLine offers information and support for families at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264); it is not a crisis line.
Call or text 988 in the United States, or call or text 9-8-8 in Canada, at any hour. In the US, you can also chat at chat.988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. For treatment referrals, the SAMHSA National Helpline is free and open 24/7 at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Dates
Open retreats and the dedicated veterans' dates. Eight guests each; full list on the schedule.
Nobody is left alone in the night here. We stay beside you until morning, and we are still there in the months after.
Pricing, US dollars
All inclusive from Cancún airport: screening, ceremonies, room, meals, three months of follow-up. All payments are final, see the terms. Full pricing.
Questions about borderline personality
No study has tested iboga or ibogaine for borderline personality, so we make no medical claim for it. What guests describe since 2012 is a long night of looking at their life, then more room between a feeling and an action. We offer it only after careful screening, alongside therapy.
A lasting pattern of unstable emotions, relationships and sense of self, with impulsive actions, starting by early adulthood. It can include fear of abandonment, self-harm, mood swings that last hours, emptiness or intense anger. The ICD-11 describes it as a "borderline pattern" within personality disorder.
Therapy built for it, especially dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) or mentalization-based treatment (MBT). Across 75 trials, these therapies reduced symptom severity more than usual care.
None is approved for the condition itself. A 2022 Cochrane review found no medicine that seems to work on borderline personality as such. Doctors may prescribe for depression, anxiety or sleep. Never stop a medicine on your own.
Symptoms often ease over the years. In a ten-year study, 93% of former inpatients had a lasting remission of symptoms, while half reached full recovery in work and relationships too. Change is the usual story, not the exception.
Yes, strongly. Self-harm is a sign of pain, not attention seeking. If you have thoughts of ending your life, call or text 988 in the United States or Canada, at any hour.
Nothing is proven. In one small open study of 9 adults given psilocybin, depression improved but borderline symptoms did not. Trials often leave out people with borderline personality because of suicide risk. One small study suggested a higher risk of feeling worse after psychedelics for people with personality disorders.
Not trauma alone. Leading theories combine an emotionally sensitive temperament with an environment that did not meet it well. If trauma is part of your story, our page on complex trauma may help too.
Someone stays beside you all night. We agree in advance what helps you when fear rises, and the physician is in the room. The day after, the psychologist works with whatever came up.
Stay steady, keep honest limits, and encourage DBT or MBT before any retreat. Take every mention of suicide seriously: call 988 with them if you are worried. Look after your own support too; the NAMI HelpLine can help families.
Yes, and we strongly prefer it. With your consent, we share the crisis plan with your therapist and send them a summary. Integration calls can include them too.
You've carried this long enough. Start with a conversation with our medical team.
