VIDEO: Update on Jordan Peterson's health

I have been remiss in not posting news about the health crisis which has afflicted Jordan Peterson, whose name will certainly be familiar to regular readers. For those who don't know, Dr Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His main areas of study are in abnormal, social, and personality psychology, with a particular interest in the psychology of religious and ideological belief and the assessment and improvement of personality and performance. He has for years been a champion of freedom of speech and thought, and a soft- but outspoken critic of political correctness.

In 2016, Dr Peterson released a series of YouTube videos criticizing political correctness and the Canadian government's Bill C-16, "An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code". The act added "gender identity and expression" as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Dr Peterson characterised the bill as an introduction of compelled speech into law. He subsequently received significant media coverage, attracting both support and criticism.

Later that year, Dr Peterson went on a strict diet consisting only of meat and some vegetables to control severe depression and an autoimmune disorder. In mid-2018 he stopped eating vegetables, and went on a carnivore diet, eating only beef. In 2019, he entered a rehabilitation facility after experiencing symptoms of physical withdrawal when he stopped taking the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam, which he had begun taking, on his doctor's recommendation, following his wife's cancer diagnosis.

Last month, Dr Peterson's daughter, Mikhaila, revealed that he had spent the previous year struggling with both a physical dependency and a paradoxical reaction to the medication, and had gone to Russia to seek an emergency medical benzodiazepine detox, available only in that country. His condition was further complicated by severe pneumonia which developed in one of the hospitals he had been in previously.

Dr Peterson spent four weeks in the ICU, but survived. In this short video, Mikhaila gives an update on her father's condition.



Please join us in praying for Dr Peterson's recovery.

Further reading:

"Social justice lunatics celebrate Jordan Peterson’s struggles", by Libby Emmons, in the Post Millenial, 10/2/20.

"Jordan Peterson has done so much good — we owe him our gratitude", by Anthony Fuery, in the Toronto Sun, 10/2/20.