Sad news that Jordan Peterson has had the equivalent of a mental breakdown. Technically he's become addicted to benzodiazapene http://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-09/jordan-peterson-is-recovering-from-tranquiliser-dependence/11947500. It's sad, but understandable.

While Peterson has seemed superhuman with his almost limitless energy, and ability to withstand pressure, underneath there were weaknesses. I sensed some of those watching the documentary "The Rise of Jordan Peterson". His house was full of dark and chaotic paintings and posters, with very little light getting in. It suggested that perhaps some of his ability to understand darkness in human beings grew out of a deep struggle within his own psyche.

So what does this addiction issue do for him as an intellectual force in the world. Is he discredited? Or does he become more fully human?

A great pity; but his own intensity and and obvious pain at the stupidity of society would have been as much of a burden to him as was .... well ...the stupidity of society.

A brilliant man. But, as an admirer, I had recently thought that he was overdoing it and should take a break. He had done plenty.

Interesting.

I find it hard to relate to drug F*. Although I'm surrounded by enough of them.
Many of which have been found hanging by the neck.
Is Peterson on suicide watch?

What it says to me also is, nothing and nobody can be trusted. Especially the "experts"!
( A great article today on bushfires, and the consequences of rule by experts).

I think Peterson is simply another "flash in the pan" failure, that cements those with their feet on the ground, in further prejudice against the status quo.

Dan

Dear GrahamY,

Sad news indeed but not a real surprise unfortunately.

I wrote this about Mr Peterson on this very forum in March last year;

"His rise to fame was probably a little too quick for him to cope with fully but he may well catch up. He just needs to concentrate a little less on book sales and youtube likes. I just can't escape the feeling though that he needs someone to give him a really big hug."

Hopefully he has plenty of friends and family to do just that.

For Jordan Peterson is it a case of "physician heal thyself". Mr Conspiracy Theory is an intellectual version of 'Beat Up' Bolt.

I know little of Jordon Peterson.
I watched a video of his for 2 mins once.
Decided he was a bit of knobhead and then switched it over.

What is forgotten here is that Jordan Peterson is suffering from a progressive hereditary immunity related disease that is continuously painful and debilitating.

That his pain management has become an addiction is no surprise.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Park the revisionist nonsense old chap.

"After his wife, Tammy, had terminal kidney cancer diagnosed last April, his dose was increased, leading to physical dependence."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/jordan-peterson-treated-for-tranquilliser-addiction/news-story/71c285062cda4bd9930c81b36c0a7024

So he obviously had trouble coping after his wife's diagnosis and a dependency has resulted.

He checked himself into rehab about 4 months ago which was unsuccessful and led to him going to Russia for more radical treatment.

What people find confronting is that someone who is so versed in the mechanisms of addiction has found himself a victim. There will be some who are thinking if someone like Peterson can fall into such a spiral then what hope do they have.
Here are some of his videos discussing addiction;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXk2CB2_g2E&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6WQEGULvH8&feature=youtu.be

SR,

The full paragraph was:

"In a video posted online Mikhaila Peterson said that her father started taking benzodiazepines years ago after an “extremely severe auto-immune reaction to food”. After his wife, Tammy, had terminal kidney cancer diagnosed last April, his dose was increased, leading to physical dependence."

So essentially JP has been prescribed a drug to mitigate the painful and debilitating effects of an incurable hereditary disease, and has become addicted to the drug upon which he was relying to get through the day, not as you were trying to imply that this was due to stress breakdown.

On a personal note, my stepfather got addicted to pain medication when he had a serious knee injury. After replacement surgery he went on a detox and managed to kick the habit over a month or two of intense discomfort.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Come on mate, the Petersons are into some pretty kooky stuff including attempting a meat only diet. Which is fine, but this from a Joe Rogan podcast will give you some idea what can result;

"“Well, I have a negative story,” said Peterson. “Both Mikhaila and I noticed that when we restricted our diet and then ate something we weren’t supposed to, the reaction was absolutely catastrophic.” He gives the example of having had some apple cider and subsequently being incapacitated for a month by what he believes was an inflammatory response.

“You were done for a month?”

“Oh yeah, it took me out for a month. It was awful ...”

“Apple cider? What was it doing to you?”

“It produced an overwhelming sense of impending doom. I seriously mean overwhelming. There’s no way I could’ve lived like that. But see, Mikhaila knew by then that it would probably only last a month.”

“A month? From f-ing cider?”

“I didn’t sleep that month for 25 days. I didn’t sleep at all for 25 days.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“I’ll tell you how it’s possible: You lay in bed frozen in something approximating terror for eight hours. And then you get up.”

The question becomes how much of this is self inflicted as in fully hereditary or down to an adopted lifestyle.

That Jordan Peterson's daughter had to have several joint replacement surgeries as a teenager would indicate that this is a serious condition. That left whingers such as you and Paul are celebrating their misfortune is sickening but not unexpected.

Dear Shadow Minister,

You really do come off as a bitter, little, butt hurt piece of garbage sometimes.

Where did I 'celebrate' Peterson's misfortune? Answer, I didn't. No one but an ideologically tainted, blatantly lying reprobate would claim otherwise.

I think when Peterson sticks to his field of expertise he has a real contribution to make. Outside of that field he is just expressing an opinion like anyone else and he is hardly a guru in that sense. Some things he comes out with are way off beam, but so are some of the things I say.

It is people like you who hold him up on a pedestal who seem to be the most betrayed by his fallibility and wanting to strike out at others.

Time to pull your head in.

I am truly saddened to hear of Jordans misfortune.
As one of his long time followers, I am troubled that such a true and fine upstanding example of a man should succumb to whatever he has experienced.
He is one of three people I listen to keenly; the other two are Milo Yanopolous and Ben Shappiro.
Jordan is my kind of person, serious, pragmatic, and unflinching under attack, (normally).
He makes a lot of sense and I truly hope he comes out of this unscathed and able to get back on the horse, as I think the world needs more independent and honest thinkers like him, and less politicians, liars and con-men.