As you read this, Jordan Peterson is most likely in agonizing pain. The former author, psychiatrist, and conservative influencer has been absent from the spotlight for some time, with his daughter, Mikhaila Peterson, explaining last year that he’d been incapacitated after being “exposed to a particularly moldy environment“.
Now, as per a report from The New York Post and Peterson’s wife Tammy, it appears he’s actually suffering from a debilitating “neurological injury” related to his addiction to benzodiazepine drugs and subsequent withdrawal.
Inside Jordan Peterson's 'brutally painful' illness as his wife reveals he's suffering serious side effects from benzo withdrawal https://t.co/g8IUSKwwHy pic.twitter.com/0bRg2odjMB
— New York Post (@nypost) May 4, 2026
As per the article, Peterson got hooked on Klonopin when his wife was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2019, and getting off them has given him “nightmarish withdrawal symptoms”. Tammy confirms that Peterson specifically suffers from tardive akathisia, giving him constant intense restlessness that saps his ability to function normally.
“Constant pain”
As of May 2026, Jordan Peterson is recovering at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, suffering from a "psych med-induced neurological injury" and chronic symptoms of akathisia, a condition characterized by intense restlessness and pain. https://t.co/FLV51etZKR
— Renee Simmons
(@alwaysnaynays) May 6, 2026
She goes on to confirm that Peterson’s mornings are “brutally painful and discouraging for him. Later, much later in the day, he sometimes feels some relief.” This was confirmed by a family friend and religious influencer, Jonathan Pageau, who said that Peterson spends his days “overwhelmed with pain and discomfort” and can only hold brief conversations:
“Good days look like struggle and pain, but he’s still capable of taking walks, working on projects and having good conversations, just with difficulty and never for long. Bad days are constant pain and akathisia. He struggles to focus on anything and lapses into discouragement and despair.”
Tammy explained that we shouldn’t expect to see Peterson back in the spotlight for the foreseeable future, underlining that he “feels as if he’s in another realm of pain.”
She also insisted that the rumor that Peterson developed sepsis as a side effect of experimental stem cell treatments is totally untrue. Peterson’s sepsis actually developed after he was rushed to the ICU in Switzerland to battle pneumonia as a result of mold exposure.
All in all, it sounds like life is hell for Peterson right now, and his woes stem from his prescription drug addiction. Fortunately, he already has the tools to bounce back. Peterson himself explained that “One of the best ways to overcome addiction is to find something better to do” and that addiction should be approached as a hierarchical problem in your value system.
Here’s hoping that, in between Peterson’s bouts of crippling torment, he can take his own advice and “find something better to do”. And hey, while he’s at it, maybe he can simply rearrange the hierarchy of his value system to put benzodiazepines right at the bottom. C’mon, bucko! You can do it!
