How did Jordan Peterson characterize the onset and progression of his withdrawal symptoms between 2019 and 2022?
Executive summary
Jordan Peterson says his withdrawal began after an increased prescription of the benzodiazepine clonazepam in 2019 and escalated rapidly when he attempted to stop the drug, producing what he and his family describe as horrific, prolonged symptoms—including intense restlessness (akathisia), anxiety, hypersomnia and neurological harm—that forced repeated hospitalizations, a medically complex international treatment odyssey and an extended recovery that stretched into 2022 [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. How the problem began: prescription, escalation and the first severe withdrawal
Peterson’s publicly stated timeline is that he began benzodiazepines years earlier for an autoimmune reaction, had his clonazepam dose increased after his wife’s cancer diagnosis in April 2019, and only became aware of physical dependence when he tried to quit “cold turkey” that summer and immediately suffered agonizing withdrawal symptoms [1] [2] [5].
2. The character of the early withdrawal symptoms he reported
Family statements and Peterson’s own accounts emphasize akathisia—“incredible, endless, irresistible restlessness, bordering on panic”—alongside extreme anxiety, insomnia and autonomic signs known in benzo withdrawal such as sweating and elevated heart rate; several reports say these symptoms were severe enough to be suicidal and “unbearable” [3] [2] [6].
3. Escalation, hospitalizations and the medically induced coma narrative
Peterson and his daughter say the withdrawal period included multiple hospitalizations and a four‑week ICU stay in which he was placed in a medically induced coma in Russia; reporting notes that clinicians and commentators debated whether the coma was required for pneumonia/respiratory failure or as emergency sedation during overwhelming withdrawal agitation [3] [1] [7].
4. The international search for treatment and relapses he described
He recounts a fraught search for effective care that took him through clinics in the U.S., Russia and Serbia; after a rapid‑detox attempt in the U.S. and treatment in Moscow, Peterson said he later attempted tapering in Florida, relapsed to earlier doses, and sought another clinic in Serbia—depicting withdrawal as a protracted, relapsing process rather than a single discrete episode [4] [8] [9].
5. Neurological effects, prolonged impairment and the slow recovery through 2022
Multiple outlets relay Peterson’s assessment that withdrawal left him with persistent neurological damage, severe hypersomnia and a long period of “severely impaired” health; by late 2020 and into 2021–2022 he described having completed lengthy treatment and being on a slow path back, but still recovering from months to years of aftereffects [8] [10] [11].
6. Alternate readings and medical uncertainty he acknowledged or others raised
While Peterson and his family framed the crisis as catastrophic benzodiazepine withdrawal and dependence, medical writers and specialists cautioned that some symptoms—like akathisia—are complex, can be misattributed, and that details about treatments used abroad remain opaque; some commentators and advocacy groups emphasized the difference between physical dependence and addiction and criticized rapid‑withdrawal protocols that may have worsened outcomes [7] [12] [1].
7. Peterson’s own retrospective tone about onset and progression
Across videos and interviews summarized by the press, Peterson’s retrospective account is consistent: a dose escalation in 2019, a traumatic failed attempt to quit that triggered severe withdrawal, months of terrifying symptoms and hospital care, experiments with different detox approaches abroad, intermittent relapse and a prolonged recovery that persisted through at least 2022—an account he and his daughter used to warn about the dangers of benzodiazepines and the difficulty of safe withdrawal [5] [4] [8].