Jordan Peterson

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex..._autoplay=true

I had heard that Jordan Peterson was going through a lot with his daughter over the years and his personal life recently with his wife’s terminal cancer diagnosis and his issue with prescription meds, but I hadn’t heard much lately. It was all a lot worse than I had thought was going on. What a tragic story, and might explain why he was so insightful and thoughtful.

It’s unusual to find someone in the current commentary social media sphere that actually helps people. But it seems like he has helped countless people. Here’s hoping him the best in his internal fight.

https://nationalpost.com/health/jord..._autoplay=true

[jack crab]

His daughter just did an update on YT a couple days ago.

I wish him a speedy recovery.

[Arik]

I know someone who was prescribed benzos for anxiety. This person was on them for a month, maybe a little more when they saw a different doctor who instantly raised concern about the side effects and it's addictiveness in relation to the user's advanced age. This person instantly stopped taking the meds and had severe withdraw symptoms. There was a bunch of nights spent at the hospital due to severe chest pains, difficulty breathing, racing pulse...etc..... basically all signs of a heart attack along with inability to sit still or focus on one thing........ only to be released a few hours later when all tests came back normal. Luckily the time frame for taking these drugs was relatively short and the withdrawal lasted maybe two weeks.

[Life's a Hillary]

Benzos are one of the few things where withdrawal symptoms can kill you. Opioid withdrawal might suck but it’s not endangering your life where as benzodiazepines can. That’s why treatment centers in the US and Canada wouldn’t do what Peterson sought out in Russia. It was extremely dangerous and stupid but I guess if you’re at the end of your rope you’ll not always make the most logical decision.

Benzo addiction is no joke though, some people ween themselves off of them over the course of years under medical supervision because it’s that hard to kick. I have had to use them to help with jaw issues where I got severe TMJ brought on by stress, they have been life savers when nothing else helped at all but I make sure that I don’t let my dosage increase over the absolute minimum I need, I don’t take it when I don’t need it, and I have never noticed anything other than the mildest of withdrawal symptoms. I count myself lucky. I wish Jordan Peterson nothing but the best, hope he can fully recover, and makes better choices in the future.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Better choices? From what I understand this was all under a doctors care and he was pretty proactive about it when things were not as they should be. He wasn't off program with them or thought that he was some superman that could fix it himself. It sounds like a wickedly complex drug to use effectively with out it getting out of control.

[Life's a Hillary]

Better choices? From what I understand this was all under a doctors care and he was pretty proactive about it when things were not as they should be. He wasn't off program with them or thought that he was some superman that could fix it himself. It sounds like a wickedly complex drug to use effectively with out it getting out of control.

Yes better choices, like not going to Russia to be put in a coma which can be a very dangerous way to kick a serious benzodiazepine addiction. There’s a reason he couldn’t have that same treatment done in the States or in Canada and that’s because it’s not safe. Unless you think Russia is the pinnacle for medical care of course.

He likely was not thinking clearly due to the addiction and went with the “whatever it takes” mentality which is the only reason someone would take that risk vs a safer, but slower, detox program here.

[jack crab]

Better choices? From what I understand this was all under a doctors care and he was pretty proactive about it when things were not as they should be. He wasn't off program with them or thought that he was some superman that could fix it himself. It sounds like a wickedly complex drug to use effectively with out it getting out of control.

That is what his daughter said. He had a paradoxical reaction, i.e., the drug did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do.

[RMike89]

Bummer, hope he gets through to the other side. Having seen a few people go down this path, it's definitely an uphill battle and can understand the drastic measures that he took.

[ramairthree]

Being gifted is a double edged sword.

As you have seen several times how very gifted musicians, artists, actors, comedians, etc. have way more than their share of depression, substance abuse, psyc issues, etc.,

Intellectually gifted people have more than their share of issues as well.

It’s not universal.

But if 10% of the overall population have these issues, but over 20% of the very gifted do, it’s a trend.

Plus he is a psychologist.
MDs that become psychiatrists are usually the weird ones.
With Ph.D. Psychologists it is even worse.

People seem to have the same risks as the general population for psyc stuff up to and past about the 99.9th of intellectual ability or so.

This means the neurosurgeon with the IQ of 135, the electrical engineer with the IQ of 140, and the Ph.D. Math guy with the IQ of 145 are likely pretty normal dudes.

The Ph.D. In Physics with an IQ of 160 or higher can be a normal guy too, but his risk of being a little on the spectrum or forgetting to shower or wear clean clothes every day is a good deal more than the general population.

This is why the Materials Science Ph.D. With an IQ of 140 and charisma and non harmful sociopathic skills is way more likely to be the project manager / VP development/ACEO research of a lab bringing in a billion dollars of research funds a year than the 180 IQ pure researcher guys.

So, if Peterson is around a 99.9th percentile IQ guy and chose to go into psychology, conditional probability is he likely had some issues. And along comes the news of some issues.

[prepare]

Don’t discount the fame either. It can really mess with your psyche.