Jordan Peterson
© GettyJordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist and anti-political-correctness crusader, has checked himself in to rehab in New York, his daughter has revealed.

The "12 Rules for Life" author has sought help trying to get off the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam, his daughter Mikhaila Peterson said in a video posted to her YouTube account Thursday.

"I've never seen my dad like this," the 27-year-old diet blogger said in the eight-and-a-half-minute video. "He's having a miserable time of it. It breaks my heart."

The elder Peterson, 57, began taking the addictive medication to deal with stress from his wife's battle with cancer and other health problems earlier this year, his daughter said.

He tried to quit cold-turkey over the summer after his wife, Tammy Roberts, "miraculously" recovered from complications with a kidney surgery, Mikhaila said.

But he went through "horrific" physical withdrawal that has left him looking "like a lost puppy," she said.

"He decided to check himself into a place because he didn't want to stress mom out, wanted to get off of this as quickly as possible, and honestly needs the medical help," said Mikhaila, who has used her YouTube channel to promote her all-meat "Lion Diet."


Peterson is getting weaned off clonazepam at the unidentified rehab facility with other drugs that will help abate the withdrawal, Mikhaila said.

She added that she had a similar withdrawal struggle when she tried to get off Oxycontin as a teenager. At one point it made her feel "like ants were crawling upside down under my skin," she recalled.

Peterson has gained international fame for his strident critiques of academic "safe spaces" and feminism, as well as his refusal to use transgender people's preferred pronouns.

The controversial University of Toronto professor has been open about his previous struggles with depression, which he has battled since his teen years.

He's said he beat it back with the meat-heavy diet his daughter encouraged him to adopt. Cutting out greens altogether improved both his mental and physical health, he said in an interview last year.

"I'm better now probably than I've ever been in my life, and I haven't been taking anti-depressants for a whole year," Peterson said in a July 2018 episode of the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.