Jordan Peterson's year of 'absolute hell': Professor forced to retreat....

[[Te...]]

I am living it and still can’t believe it.

 

I can't either, Ajusta.

[[Fl...]]

There are still people on BBs who think it's impossible to have anxiety trying to come off 2.5 mgs valium, people who've been here for years reading hundreds of cases (or maybe they just don't read, IDK), so imagine trying to convince anyone from out of this forum.

 

There are also plenty of people here who think that it is impossible to have certain symptoms after x number of years and people who think that if you are dealing with symptoms after a certain time that it can't be a direct result of the benzo. Sometimes I wonder whether or not these people went through the same thing I did, because if they had they would know better than to put anything past these drugs.

 

Even the people in my life who "believe in" the harm these drugs can do or at least seem to somewhat "get it" are still pretty clueless. The fact is that what has happened to us is pretty unbelievable. No one even wants to believe that it is possible to suffer from severe, painful and often debilitating neurological problems for many years after discontinuing the use of a supposedly safe drug that was administered by a doctor who studied how to "fix" people for the better part of a decade.

 

Doctors should know exactly what it is they are giving you and there should be safety nets in place to ensure that things like this don't happen. In a perfect world, anyway.

[[dr...]]

He has some deep love hate fascination with russia. There is some psychological stuff he is acting out. But that's where he is and we were too I suppose.

 

His daughter's husband is Russian which explains Peterson's connection to Russia.

 

I don't have enough specifics on Peterson and his benzo issues and treatment, but in reading about his case it does not seem like the family has a good plan or know what they are doing and are jumping from one rehab facility to the next based on the advice of so-called experts.  I imagine that the rehab places were trying some type of rapid taper, which may have made him worse.  I am not trying to be glib, but it doesn't sound like they had the knowledge level or people with the knowledge level that is present on this board.

 

A physician assistant affiliated with the Benzo Information coalition pointed out that he may have been put on a fluoroquinolone antibiotic for the pnemomia which would have prevented the benzos from attaching to his gaba receptors and put him into a cold turkey withdrawal.

 

All this would explain why he is in the bad shape that he is in, or the shape that he was in.

 

From an article: "Following a medically induced coma, Mikhaila reports, her father is now on anti-seizure medication and has suffered neurological damage. He may never be the same."

 

Well, Love/hate of russia, and daughter married to a russian? They might be unrelated...

 

I read the transcriupt again. it looks like they avoided google and sought detox, and went to russia to do it. Wow. He showed fatal lack of faith in the west.

 

He almost dies several times, and was in an induced coma? It seems disastrous.

 

He won't be able to deal with his problem as a clinical psychologist ordering reality around. He is now a patient and a subject. I thnk he has trouble admitting this.

[[va...]]

Florida Guy I believe you and other long protracted cases full heartedly. I've seen what the crash has done to me and my cognition, muscles, stress tolerance... I probably wouldn't have believed you before my crash last summer though. But now that I've experienced this, I believe anything.

[[Fl...]]

Florida Guy I believe you and other long protracted cases full heartedly. I've seen what the crash has done to me and my cognition, muscles, stress tolerance... I probably wouldn't have believed you before my crash last summer though. But now that I've experienced this, I believe anything.

 

Many people who are in the early stages do believe that these drugs are capable of causing problems that last for a very long time, but unfortunately there are also a lot of people here who refuse to believe it. Some of this is due to fear and some of it is due to closed mindedness. I understand the fear but if you have been whacked hard by benzos there really isn't any excuse for closed mindedness. I would encourage everyone to "never say never" when it comes to things like this. If we can be harmed in this way by benzos, this isn't the only thing we need to watch out for.

[[co...]]

Wow, there are lots of threads on Jordan Peterson.

 

I saw on his daughter's twitter that she referenced the video put out by the Benzo info coalition.  This means that she has seen it.  As I have said, in reading the account of Jordan Peterson, it sounds like they made a lot of mistakes even with the best intentions.  The problem is that any rehab facility that you call will insist that they can help you, even if they are doing things that will make you worse. 

[[La...]]

Wow, there are lots of threads on Jordan Peterson.

 

I saw on his daughter's twitter that she referenced the video put out by the Benzo info coalition.  This means that she has seen it.  As I have said, in reading the account of Jordan Peterson, it sounds like they made a lot of mistakes even with the best intentions.  The problem is that any rehab facility that you call will insist that they can help you, even if they are doing things that will make you worse.

 

In the most recent video, his daughter said that the next update would come from Jordan Peterson himself. I do hope he'll tell us why he made the decisions he did, e.g. why he wanted to get off his clonazepam, why he chose to go to the U.S. to a rehab facility (he's Canadian and has access to provincially-covered health care), what treatment he underwent, etc. There are just so many unanswered questions at this point.

[[Fl...]]

I saw on his daughter's twitter that she referenced the video put out by the Benzo info coalition.  This means that she has seen it. 

 

She has definitely seen it. Someone else said she commented on it.

 

His detractors would have you believe otherwise but JP is a truth seeker. From what I know of him he is a sensitive individual and he enjoys helping people. At this point I would be surprised if he didn't end up picking up the benzo cause in some capacity once he recovers to the point where he is able. I wouldn't blame him for not pursuing the cause, as he has a very lucrative career to think about, but knowing what I know about him I think there is a good chance that the profound revelations from such a horrible experience will inspire him to eventually speak out.

[[...]]

If they are truly informed on benzos and end up bowing down to pharma or not speaking out because of his “lucrative career,” then all of Jordan Peterson’s righteous philosophizing will be meaningless to me. If he doesn’t address this issue because of money, then I will hold it against him.

[[Te...]]

I worry that doctors will give him excuses as to what went wrong with him and benzos - he's "addicted; he's "had an allergic reaction," or some such thing, and he'll refuse to say that benzos are very harmful for the body. After all, Mikhaila was able to get off Ativan easily. I'm afraid it will get covered up and not mentioned again after all this unless he's protracted. Being older, I would think that it would be harder for him to recover.

 

Too many people in the spotlight have gone silent on this issue.

[[co...]]

In the most recent video, his daughter said that the next update would come from Jordan Peterson himself. I do hope he'll tell us why he made the decisions he did, e.g. why he wanted to get off his clonazepam, why he chose to go to the U.S. to a rehab facility (he's Canadian and has access to provincially-covered health care), what treatment he underwent, etc. There are just so many unanswered questions at this point.

 

My guess would be that he wasn't well-informed up to the level of this messageboard and took different doctor's advice. 

 

He is well known and his book was a bestseller, so he has the money to find a private doctor in Canada who would put him on a suitable taper schedule.  He also has the support system of his daughter and her husband to help him.

 

The very sad thing is that he had resources but was not able to find the correct information and thus followed an incredibly hellish, damaging, and dangerous path.

 

 

[[Fl...]]

If they are truly informed on benzos and end up bowing down to pharma or not speaking out because of his “lucrative career,” then all of Jordan Peterson’s righteous philosophizing will be meaningless to me. If he doesn’t address this issue because of money, then I will hold it against him.

 

There is no way to know someone's true motivations. He has zero obligation to speak out about this. It's a bonus to us if he does but it isn't any more his responsibility than it is any of ours.

[[La...]]

In the most recent video, his daughter said that the next update would come from Jordan Peterson himself. I do hope he'll tell us why he made the decisions he did, e.g. why he wanted to get off his clonazepam, why he chose to go to the U.S. to a rehab facility (he's Canadian and has access to provincially-covered health care), what treatment he underwent, etc. There are just so many unanswered questions at this point.

 

My guess would be that he wasn't well-informed up to the level of this messageboard and took different doctor's advice. 

 

He is well known and his book was a bestseller, so he has the money to find a private doctor in Canada who would put him on a suitable taper schedule.  He also has the support system of his daughter and her husband to help him.

 

The very sad thing is that he had resources but was not able to find the correct information and thus followed an incredibly hellish, damaging, and dangerous path.

 

That's the thing. He didn't need to pay out of pocket to go to his doctor here in Canada and get enough diazepam to do a taper. I just brought the Ashton Manual to my doctor and told him I wanted to use that taper schedule to get off my clonazepam. It wasn't a problem. While my doctor wasn't knowledgeable about benzo tapers, he supported what I wanted to do.

 

JP would have had to do a bit of reading to find out about tapering and withdrawal. No amount of money can guarantee that a person won't have a difficult taper, though, since genetics and other factors can play a role (e.g. other meds, general health, etc.).

 

I'd very much like to know why he chose to go out of the country for help. Obviously, the place in New York didn't have any magical potions to help him. And we don't know where else he went for treatment. Perhaps he just wanted a quick fix. As we all know, that doesn't exist here, there or anywhere. It takes time.

 

 

[[...]]

If they are truly informed on benzos and end up bowing down to pharma or not speaking out because of his “lucrative career,” then all of Jordan Peterson’s righteous philosophizing will be meaningless to me. If he doesn’t address this issue because of money, then I will hold it against him.

 

There is no way to know someone's true motivations. He has zero obligation to speak out about this. It's a bonus to us if he does but it isn't any more his responsibility than it is any of ours.

 

Not speaking out is contrary to everything he stands for. I, personally, will not see him the same way. You can view him as you wish.

[[ph...]]

Not speaking out is contrary to everything he stands for. I, personally, will not see him the same way. You can view him as you wish.

 

Yeah. This pretty much confirmed for me who he was.

 

As for why, it seems like they were looking for a quick fix. The reinstatement. Multiple places.

 

 

[[Fl...]]

Not speaking out is contrary to everything he stands for.

 

I'm not sure that's what he stands for. I am hanging my hat on the fact that he is a truth seeker. I think he is that above everything else. Any kind of "activism" is secondary.

 

Regardless, I'm not going to ascribe motives. If he chooses to speak out I will be the happiest guy in the world but if he doesn't speak out I'm not going to pretend to know why.

[[...]]

Not speaking out is contrary to everything he stands for.

 

I'm not sure that's what he stands for. I am hanging my hat on the fact that he is a truth seeker. I think he is that above everything else. Any kind of "activism" is secondary.

 

Regardless, I'm not going to ascribe motives. If he chooses to speak out I will be the happiest guy in the world but if he doesn't speak out I'm not going to pretend to know why.

 

Other posters have said that his daughter is aware of BIC. He and his daughter are not idiots. They are almost guaranteed to be aware of the issue. If he doesn’t speak out, then he should remove the “Tell The Truth” chapter from his book.

[[co...]]

That's the thing. He didn't need to pay out of pocket to go to his doctor here in Canada and get enough diazepam to do a taper. I just brought the Ashton Manual to my doctor and told him I wanted to use that taper schedule to get off my clonazepam. It wasn't a problem. While my doctor wasn't knowledgeable about benzo tapers, he supported what I wanted to do.

 

Consider yourself very lucky.  I have read many accounts on this website and have interacted with people who were not able to get a doctor to buy into the Ashton taper.  Thus he might have had to look around to find a doctor and maybe pay money out of his own pocket.  I don't know anyone going through this who would not pay money if that is what it took to get proper treatment and support for the right prescriptions for a taper program.

 

JP would have had to do a bit of reading to find out about tapering and withdrawal.

 

I thought about this and pretended that I was someone suffering from Klonopin problems who knew nothing about the subject and tried some simple googling.  Most of what I found were pages of standard links--most of which were for some rehab places.  When I googled the term benzo info I got a link to the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition who had good info.  I found benzobuddies by luck through a link on another mental health messageboard.

 

No amount of money can guarantee that a person won't have a difficult taper, though, since genetics and other factors can play a role (e.g. other meds, general health, etc.).

 

This is true, but money can get you more and better options.  I have an online friend who has insurance coverage in the US who is having rebound anxiety and tolerance withdrawal from .5 mg of Klonopin taken twice a day.  He would like to do the Ashton method but his psychiatrist will not approve it.  She wants him to taper off over a 4 week period.  He explained his situation to his long time physician but the doctor wants him to find a psychiatrist to supervise it.  If he had Peterson's money he would have no problem going from psychiatrist to psychiatrist until he found one who write him the necessary prescriptions to follow a usable taper.  He could make an appointment to see a different psychiatrist every day until he found one who would support him in a taper.

[[Da...]]

In the most recent video, his daughter said that the next update would come from Jordan Peterson himself. I do hope he'll tell us why he made the decisions he did, e.g. why he wanted to get off his clonazepam, why he chose to go to the U.S. to a rehab facility (he's Canadian and has access to provincially-covered health care), what treatment he underwent, etc. There are just so many unanswered questions at this point.

 

My guess would be that he wasn't well-informed up to the level of this messageboard and took different doctor's advice. 

 

He is well known and his book was a bestseller, so he has the money to find a private doctor in Canada who would put him on a suitable taper schedule.  He also has the support system of his daughter and her husband to help him.

 

The very sad thing is that he had resources but was not able to find the correct information and thus followed an incredibly hellish, damaging, and dangerous path.

 

That's the thing. He didn't need to pay out of pocket to go to his doctor here in Canada and get enough diazepam to do a taper. I just brought the Ashton Manual to my doctor and told him I wanted to use that taper schedule to get off my clonazepam. It wasn't a problem. While my doctor wasn't knowledgeable about benzo tapers, he supported what I wanted to do.

 

JP would have had to do a bit of reading to find out about tapering and withdrawal. No amount of money can guarantee that a person won't have a difficult taper, though, since genetics and other factors can play a role (e.g. other meds, general health, etc.).

 

I'd very much like to know why he chose to go out of the country for help. Obviously, the place in New York didn't have any magical potions to help him. And we don't know where else he went for treatment. Perhaps he just wanted a quick fix. As we all know, that doesn't exist here, there or anywhere. It takes time.

 

It is interesting how many people fall victim to their faith in doctors. To me it seems he heavily relied on them even though he was likely quite capable of understanding medical literature himself. I was the same way. I just trusted they were experts. Since then I've found they cannot even answer some of the most basic questions about the most commonly prescribed drugs (ie. how much better is this drug than a placebo? How do you know the benefit exceeds the risk for this drug?) Once you start learning yourself and asking questions you realize that doctors are often just pretending to know what they are doing (or they are just following guidelines). He really had his faith shattered in the worst way.

 

I have seen some doctors on social media claiming he fell victim to pseudoscience. I agree he did, but it was the pseudoscience of western medicine, where they prescribe drugs tested for 3 months for years without any evidence the patient will benefit. That was the source of every disaster. If they had any level of honesty or humility they would admit that. But they don't.

[[La...]]

Good points, confuseduser and Data_Guy. I really do hope we'll hear directly from JP himself in order to find out what happened, why he made the decisions that he did, where he went for help, what he was told, etc.

 

I first watched Mikhaila's video a week ago this evening, and I felt physically ill. I just felt really, really sad. Now that there's been so much written in the media (all of the major media here in Canada covered it to some degree, from what I can see), it seems clear that he'll have to explain things publicly at some point (whether sooner or later). He wouldn't be able to do another interview without answering questions about what has happened.

[[De...]]

8 bet he is still trusting the drs. thinking they know what they are doing. That's what I did. I never expected drs to have no idea how to taper a benzo or know the wd sx. Its astonishing. Plus who would ever think it could ever be like this. I'm still shocked at how awful this is. I just can't believe that no dr. Knows the seriousness of this. I mean the drugs have been around for like 50 yrs. I just hope they dont start polydrugging him and switching benzos around. It makes it worse. I mean they think he is getting better. But he may have wd for a couple yrs I hope not. But, I hope they are aware of this.

[[Bl...]]

I worry that doctors will give him excuses as to what went wrong with him and benzos - he's "addicted; he's "had an allergic reaction," or some such thing, and he'll refuse to say that benzos are very harmful for the body. After all, Mikhaila was able to get off Ativan easily. I'm afraid it will get covered up and not mentioned again after all this unless he's protracted. Being older, I would think that it would be harder for him to recover.

 

Too many people in the spotlight have gone silent on this issue.

 

Actually what better scenario than that Mikhaila was able to get off Ativan so easily when compared to her father's tragic experience of getting off Klonopin. How much more perfect can we have it than that??

 

As soon as Mikhaila made the statement referencing her own experience, I thought....thank you for your candor/humility. Her experience is SO critical as far as I'm concerned.

 

The only issue I have, is that Mikhaila said that Klonopin is worse than other benzos, which is an inaccurate statement. And I am basing this on my own experience with Ativan.

 

In all fairness I need to clarify that the sleep medication Ambien is what even got me on the benzo roller coaster. Ambien(Z-drug) is no less dangerous than benzos.

 

The complexity of these drugs needs to be understood...and as we all know who have spent enough time on BB....these drugs are very complex and misunderstood.

[[Ca...]]

following.. -still..

 

Oh FG, did you finish watching that link u posted in your thread, -where that Stephan guy gives his own opinion on why JP “shopped around” for treatment..??

Its stretching my memory, but it seemed to make sense, in theory at least..

 

I think we will have to give JP quite some time before we can “expect” anything.. lol, I base that on how I feel..!!

 

Lapis, its hit the news here too.. (Australia) Not sure how much though..??

 

 

[[La...]]

Yes, cantfly, from what I can tell, the news got around. He has an international profile due to his touring. Actually, I watched an "interesting" Australian interview that he did. A bit...um...unusual.

 

I just tracked it down again here:

 

 

 

[[Fl...]]

Other posters have said that his daughter is aware of BIC. He and his daughter are not idiots. They are almost guaranteed to be aware of the issue. If he doesn’t speak out, then he should remove the “Tell The Truth” chapter from his book.

 

There is a difference between telling the truth and activism. I suspect that he will tell the truth about what happened to him. I'm hoping he becomes and activist or at least speaks out in some way, but I'm not holding my breath for that and I'm not going to hold it against him if he doesn't. Life is complicated, and becoming a benzo warrior isn't for everyone.