"An accident is when three or four or five unlikely things happen at the same time - and that's what happened to me"
On Tuesday, Jordan Peterson returned to screens with an appearance on his daughter’s podcast, The Mikhaila Peterson Podcast. Having received promising treatment from a specialist clinic in Belgrade over the last few weeks, Peterson explained the events of the last 12 to 18 months, and the suffering he, and his family, have endured over that time. He often talks and writes about life as suffering, and over the last year or so, it seems Peterson has been through hell and back.
Tuesday’s podcast served primarily as a warning shot to those on benzodiazepines, a widely used prescription drug that seeks to treat insomnia, anxiety and seizures, among other things. Benzodiazepines, or ‘benzos’ for short, depress the nerves within the brain, making them useful drugs for those who suffer from various illnesses caused by excessive activity of the brain. However, benzos are said to be habit forming, meaning regular use for over a month or two can lead to addiction and increased tolerance. The withdrawal symptoms of benzodiazepines can be severe. This is what happened to Peterson.
What We Know
First, why was Peterson on benzodiazepines in the first place? In the winter of 2016/17, Peterson, his daughter, and her husband, all had a reaction to something they ate. For Peterson, the reaction resulted in weeks of not being able to sleep, feeling faint, feeling cold, and he was prescribed benzodiazepines as a result. It rapidly stopped his symptoms, but he continued to take the drug, as it was prescribed, since it likely helped him with the stress and anxiety from his new found fame and scrutiny.
Peterson entered the limelight in the summer of 2016, after a controversy surrounding the Canadian C-16 bill. In 2018, his book ’12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos’ became a worldwide best-seller. He toured the world promoting his book by giving lectures and interviews, including the infamous Cathy Newman interview on Channel 4 News in the UK, which propelled him to even higher levels of fame. But this new found attention came at a cost. Peterson explained on the Joe Rogan Podcast how he would often take days to recover from the stress and anxiety of combative interviews. He has spoken on many occasions about the mental health issues, including crippling depression, that run in his family, and he has experienced himself.
To compliment a hectic work schedule, and mental health issues, Peterson’s wife was diagnosed with cancer. She was due to have a surgical procedure in March last year, but things went wrong. In Tuesday’s podcast, Peterson explains how his wife, Tammy, had a rare form of cancer that morphed from a slow-growing, non-dangerous, and treatable cancer, to something fast-growing, with an almost 100% fatality rate within 12 months. Jordan and Mikhaila describe how, for several months, Tammy was on death's doorstep. Fortunately, she made a miraculous recovery to some extent in the late months of 2019. But his wife’s diagnosis unsurprisingly took its toll on Peterson's mental health. His increase in stress and anxiety resulted in an increased dosage of an anti-anxiety benzodiazepine. The drug had the opposite effect, making Peterson more anxious, which started his downward spiral.
In an attempt to go cold turkey on benzos, Peterson moved onto Ketamine, which has been suggested as an effective treatment for symptoms of depression. The consequences of attempting a quick-fix detox from a high dosage of benzodiazepines were not good. He returned back to the benzos, albeit at a lower dosage, but the attempt to go cold turkey seemed to accelerate his spiral. His anxiety levels continued to increase. By the autumn, Peterson had checked into a rehab clinic which claimed to offer a fast paced benzodiazepine detox, but he emerged in an even worse state after they simply replaced one benzodiazepine with another. Peterson’s continued degradation toward the end of last year lead to him being admitted to hospital in Toronto, which again failed to halt his downward spiral. As a result, Mihkaila, and her husband, flew him to Moscow for a detox course. On arrival, he was told he had pneumonia, and spent 9 days essentially in a coma, during which doctors removed Benzodiazepine from his system.
One of the especially challenging aspects for Peterson over the last year has been his particular case of akathisia, which he developed last summer. Akathisia is a movement disorder which makes it hard to stay still. On a mild level, it can lead to a need to fidget constantly, but for Peterson, it was far more severe than this. Each attempt to detox from benzos seemed to worsen his akathisia. In Tuesday’s podcast, he explained how his hands had to be tied to the bed while in hospital in Toronto, so as to stop him tearing out his IV drip. He describes the intensity of his akathisia:
“With akathisia, it was like all of the negative emotion associated with depression, plus a very high level of anxiety, plus no positive emotion at all, plus the inability to ever relax, even for a moment.”
After Peterson’s body was successful removed of the benzos, and he was no longer akathisic, Peterson stayed in Moscow for physical and mental rehabilitation. He describes how he was no longer able to type, walk up stair, or button up his shirt, as many of his motor skills were temporarily lost. After a period of recovery in Florida, Peterson is now in Serbia, receiving further treatment. He explains in Tuesday's podcast how he feels the best he has in a long time, and has lost many of his withdrawal symptoms in the last few weeks. He cautions, however, that this does not mean he has fully recovered, and that despite things having taken a positive turn, it is possible they may deteriorate again.
What Can We Learn
There are two key takeaways from Peterson’s experience over the last year. First, is the more general point about the drugs themselves. A 2018 study found that over 1 in 8 American adults had used benzodiazepines over the previous year. Misuse of the drug accounted for 17% of overall use. The United States has a particular problem with prescription drug misuse since, though they make up 5% of the global population, they account for over a quarter of the worlds drug overdose deaths, and consume roughly 30% of the global opioid supply. One of the clear aims of Peterson doing this appearance is to bring awareness to the issue of prescribed drug misuse - specifically benzodiazepines. Peterson notes how, despite his years of studying addiction as a psychologist, he was unable, or unwilling, to see the signs of his drug misuse. This led him to make decisions that in hindsight were counter productive to the problems he was experiencing, and he is wanting to warn about the dangers of prescription drug misuse. Scrolling through the comments on the podcast’s post on YouTube, there were numerous people telling their own stories of benzodiazepine misuse, and the dangers a dependency can cause.
“It’s no overstatement to say that for me the consequences of benzodiazepine withdrawal were worse than death.”
The second key takeaway is the impact on Peterson himself. This was his first ‘public’ appearance in almost a year - a lot has happened for him since then. Peterson’s description of benzodiazepine withdrawal is frankly horrific. Many of those who experience such severe symptoms have long lasting effects, and some don’t even survive. Peterson himself is six months into his recovery, yet is still a high seizure risk, and only recently lost most of his symptoms. Various times in the conversation, Peterson is visibly moved, on the verge of tears - which is unsurprising given the ordeal he has been through. A particularly moving moment comes as they wrap up their conversation, with Peterson thanking his daughter for her help over the last year. At other times though, there is a hint of his sense of humour, along with his ability to think deeply about what he is talking about. One thing we can take from this is that Peterson is one tough cookie.
One of the questions Peterson asks himself is why people should take what he says about life and meaning seriously given what has happened to him. As someone who wrote a self help book, and is a psychologist, why did he not see it coming, why wasn’t he more cautious, and why should people take advice from him in the future? These are all legitimate questions for Peterson, but he emphasises that he never claimed that he was immune to the trials of life, and that in his writings and lectures, he too needed the advice he was giving others. This moment of introspection is fascinating. Of course, it is not that we expect Peterson to be an elevated figure of moral perfection, with no blemishes. But his frank honesty at his own failings only serve to remind his listeners of the suffering that is inherent in everyone's life - a central message of his overall approach.
What We Can Expect
For many people, Peterson is a quasi-religious leader, and they will be understandably happy, and excited, to see him back to some extent. However it is not what we can expect from him in the coming months and years, but rather what we can hope from him. First, we hope he makes a complete recovery. This goes without saying. But, for many Peterson offers an insight into life’s ‘meaning’ that has a deep impact on their lives. A brief scroll through the comments on his numerous lectures, interviews, or podcast appearances are evidence enough of Peterson's profound effect on people around the world. Of course, he is most well known for his railing against what he calls the ‘post-modern neo-marxists’ - but this is not what the vast majority of his content is focussed on. There will be many yearning to know Peterson’s thoughts on the coronavirus epidemic, and on the various developments around social justice that have engulfed the Western world in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. But these will have to wait.
For now, Peterson will likely be finishing his sequel to ’12 Rules For Life’ which is due to be published towards the end of the year. He announced the new book, provisionally titled ‘Beyond Mere Order: 12 More Rules for Life’, in a Q&A session from January last year, where he set out his next 12 provisonal rules:
Rule 1: Do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievement
Rule 2: Imagine who you could be, and aim single-mindedly at that
Rule 3: Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing, and see what happens
Rule 4: Do not hide unwanted things in the fog
Rule 5: Abandon ideology
Rule 6: Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated
Rule 7: Do not do things that you hate
Rule 8: Try to make one room in your house as beautiful as possible
Rule 9: If old memories still make you sry, write them down carefully and completely
Rule 10: Plan and work diligently to maintain the romance in your relationship
Rule 11: Be grateful in spite of your suffering
Rule 12: Do not allow yourself to become resentful, deceitful, or arrogant
Hopefully there is more to come from Jordan Peterson, but only time will tell.
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