Jordan Peterson described his spiral in drug addiction and suicidal thoughts in a new interview, before he was diagnosed with schizophrenia – then undergoing controversial Russian treatment that put him in an induced coma for eight days.
The controversial Canadian psychology professor, who has spent much of his career striving against political correctness, spoke to the Sunday Times along with his podcast guest daughter, Mikhaila Peterson, about his downward spiral.
‘I don’t remember anything. From December 16, 2019 to February 5, 2020, ” said the self-help author of the period he was sent to Russia for treatment. “I don’t remember anything at all,” Peterson told the British newspaper.
Peterson gained international fame for blowing up academic ‘safe spaces’ and feminism, as well as for his refusal to use transgender pronouns.
He wrote the international bestseller “ 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos ” in 2018, but struggled with an addiction to benzodiazepines prescribed to him after a violent reaction to a strict meat and vegetable diet.
Mikhaila, 28, her Russian husband, and Peterson started the diet in 2016, but all three had a violent ‘sodium metabisulfite reaction,’ she said. “It was really awful – but it hit him the hardest,” Mikhaila told the Times. He couldn’t get up without blacking out. He had this impending sense of doom. He was not sleeping. “
Peterson has previously claimed that he hasn’t slept for 25 days during this time, but the longest sleep deprivation period ever in humans is just 11 days, the papers said.
He was prescribed a low dose of antidepressants, which helped him recover, but the dose was increased after Peterson went into depression following his wife Tammy’s cancer diagnosis.
And things just fell insane with Tammy. For five months, every day was life and death and crisis, ”Peterson told the paper. The doctors said, ‘Well, she contracted this cancer that is so rare that there is virtually no literature on it, and the mortality rate in a year is 100 percent.’ So endless nights of sleep on the floor in emergencies, and ongoing surgical complications … So I took the benzodiazepines. “
Tammy Roberts recovered from complications from kidney surgery, but Peterson’s drug addiction worsened.
Dad was getting really weird. It manifested itself as extreme fear and suicidality, ”said Mikhaila, who, according to the Times,“ appears to have taken full charge of his affairs, ”said.
The Crusader Against Political Correctness went to a clinic in Toronto, where he was reportedly given benzodiazepine and ketamine, before going to a drug addiction center in New York in 2019.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia around this time.
“Well, I went to the best treatment clinic in North America. And they only made it worse. So we had no options, ”Peterson told the Times of the decision to undergo controversial treatment in Moscow.
“I had put myself in the hands of the medical profession. And as a result, I would die. So it wasn’t [the evidence from Moscow] was convincing. It was that we had no other options. “
In Russia, Peterson was intubated for undiagnosed pneumonia and given propofol so that he could fall into a coma for more than a week while medics cleaned up his medication.
When he got out of treatment, Peterson had lost the ability to walk along with much of his memory, according to the report.
He was catatonic. Really bad. And then he was delirious, ”his daughter told the newspaper.
After making some progress, Peterson was flown to Florida in February, where his pain and suicidal thoughts returned.
Mikhaila then flew with her father to a private hospital in Belgrade, Serbia, where he was diagnosed with akathisia – a state of restlessness linked to benzos withdrawal.
Peterson, who also contracted the coronavirus while abroad, returned home to Canada to recover from akathisia. He told the Sunday Times that being labeled an “icon of white supremacy and hate speech” by associates of the publisher of his book affected his mental health.
“I was at the epicenter of this incredible controversy, and journalists were constantly around me and students were demonstrating. It’s really emotionally difficult to be attacked like that in public. And that happened to me all the time for about three years, ”Peterson told the paper.
‘I was worried about my family. I was concerned about my reputation. I was worried about my profession. And other things happened. The Canadian equivalent of the Inland Revenue service was after me and made my life miserable because three months later they admitted it was a mistake, but they just tortured me to death. “
When asked about the seeming irony of switching to drugs after telling his followers that life is all about fighting through pain and suffering, the author dismissed.
‘No, I never said that. See, if you are a viable doctor, you encourage people to take psychiatric medications when they need to. What I really encourage in people is to understand that it is not helpful to let your suffering make you angry. And trust me, I’ve been tempted enough to get upset about what has happened to me over the past two years, ”Peterson told the paper.
During the ordeal, Peterson wrote a sequel to his best-selling book called “Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life.” It is expected to be published in the spring.