“Star Wars” Actor Jake Lloyd Was Admitted To A Mental Health Facility, His Mother Says
Jake Lloyd, who famously played young Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” has been in a mental health facility for 10 months, his mother revealed.
Lisa Lloyd shared that her 35-year-old son began an in-patient program after suffering a psychotic break in March 2023 while driving home from picking up food at McDonald’s.
As she explained, Jake, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008, said he wanted to turn off the car in the middle of three lanes of traffic.
“There was a lot of yelling and screaming,” Lisa told Scripps News on Monday (March 11).
Jake Lloyd, who famously played young Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” has been in a mental health facility since March 2023
Image credits: Disney
The former child star’s struggles with mental illness began when he was in high school.
“He started talking about ‘realities.’ He didn’t know if he was in this reality, or a different reality. I didn’t really know exactly what to say to that,” his mother recalled.
The years following Jake’s graduation were especially challenging for him and his family. During that time, Lisa noted that his symptoms worsened.
“He missed a lot of classes, and he was telling me that people were following him.”
During his brief enrolment at Columbia College Chicago, Jake would sometimes mention seeing people with “black eyes” staring at him on the street.
He left the private art college in March 2008 after a semester and a half.
When doctors told him he had paranoid schizophrenia, “it totally threw him off into an even worse depression.”
The actor was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2008
Image credits: ScreenSlam
Schizophrenia symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking, and lack of motivation, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
When the disease is active, it can trigger episodes in which the person is unable to distinguish between real and unreal experiences, the association adds. Not taking medication as prescribed, the use of alcohol or illicit drugs, and stressful situations are all factors that tend to increase symptoms.
Data from the World Health Organization shows that approximately 24 million people worldwide are affected by this chronic brain disorder, which translates to about 1 in 300 individuals.
Lisa explained that Jake would sometimes quit taking his medicines because he didn’t believe he needed the help. His denial regarding his symptoms complicated treatment efforts.
“He didn’t think he needed to take medication because he wasn’t sick. He didn’t think he needed to go to the therapist because there’s nothing wrong with him.”
“He’s doing much better than I expected,” said Lisa, his mother
Image credits: WTHR
Instead of taking medicine prescribed by a health professional, Jake turned to self-medication with illicit drugs.
In 2015, he was arrested after leading police officers on a multi-county chase during a solo road trip from Florida to Canada. He spent 10 months in prison. After his sentence, Lisa was able to get him into a hospital for treatment before moving him to California.
The incident of March 2023, which Jake’s mom described as a full-blown psychotic break, caused a traffic jam that resulted in drivers calling 911.
“The police got there, and they asked Jake some questions,” Lisa said. “He was talking to them, but none of it made sense. It was all word salad.”
This time, however, Jake wasn’t taken to jail. Instead, he was admitted to a mental health rehabilitation facility.
He’s currently about 10 months into an 18-month stay and is showing remarkable improvement with the help of therapy and treatments.
“He’s doing much better than I expected,” Lisa, who went to the movies with Jake last week to see “Wonka” for his birthday, said.
