Peterson falls ill with COVID-19
EDMONTON • Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson is recovering after contracting COVID-19 while convalescing in a Serbian clinic.
Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, became famous around the world in recent years for his Youtube lectures, his bestselling selfhelp book 12 Rules for Life and his objections to Bill C-16 in Canada, which added gender identity protections to human rights codes and the Criminal Code.
Over the past year, Peterson went public with his struggle with an addiction to a class of prescription drugs called benzodiazepines, which includes brands such as Atavan. Peterson sought treatment for his dependency in Russia, after, according to his daughter, they were unable to find successful treatment in North America.
“We’ve been in and out of hospitals for a year, trying to get him treatment,” said daughter Mikhaila Peterson.
His daughter told the U.K. tabloid The Sun this week that the family had spent time quarantining in Florida earlier this year, and then, sometime in recent weeks, Jordan Peterson travelled to Serbia to be treated by an anesthesiologist.
“It was just like, he got treated, he started sleeping again and boom, dad was back,” said Mikhaila Peterson.
In mid-july, Mikhaila Peterson and her family travelled to Serbia; she celebrated her anniversary in a Belgrade nightclub with her husband, according to an Instagram post dated July 15.
At some point, the family quarantined with Jordan Peterson in the clinic, and some days later, all tested positive for COVID-19.
“You couldn’t even write this, it’s such a horror show,” she told The Sun.
Mikhaila Peterson said that the family is on the tail end of the coronavirus now, but that her dad is “definitely having a rough time right now.”
“It ended up affecting both of my dad’s lungs,” she said, noting he had pneumonia in Russia and again in Serbia.
“It’s just been absolute hell.”
“He’ll get better, but he’s definitely taken a step back.”