Jordan Peterson steps away from ‘everything’ as daughter reveals mold exposure illness

Controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson is “taking some time off of everything” due to a debilitating illness caused by mold exposure, his daughter has announced.

Mikhaila Peterson, who co-hosts Peterson’s YouTube call-in show “Answer the Call” for conservative media outlet The Daily Wire, revealed in a post on X on Thursday that her father was suffering from chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), an acquired medical condition not generally recognised by mainstream medicine.

It’s the latest health shock for the Canadian author and commentator, 62, who was checked into rehab for benzodiazepine addiction in 2019.

“Hey guys, @jordanbpeterson is taking some time off of everything,” Mikhaila said.

“He was diagnosed with CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome) due to a genetic predisposition that causes the immune system to have an inability to identify and detoxify mold/bacteria in indoor air (the genetic predisposition is not that rare, it’s in about 25 percent of people but he has a severe version).”

Mikhaila said “over the last year or so” her father had been “feeling the impact of CIRS more and more”.

“Recently he was exposed to a particularly moldy environment while helping clean out my grandfather’s house after he passed away which severely flared symptoms,” she wrote.

“To be crystal clear — this isn’t about akathisia or medication. He’s not on any medication. It’s an immune system dysfunction.”

Following the revelation of Peterson’s drug addiction struggles, which caused shock among fans, he revealed he had developed akathisia — condition which can cause restlessness, mental distress and an inability to sit still — describing the symptoms as “like being jabbed with something like a cattle prod, something electric, sharp, non-stop.”

“CIRS is what has been behind his multiple health issues and random severe allergies and severe food sensitivities over the years,” Mikhaila wrote.

“He’s really been suffering from this badly since 2017 we just didn’t know what it was called. Only eating meat helped keep the symptoms under control but it hasn’t been enough recently.”

She said the condition was “also the explanation behind recent cancelled shows, cancelled events, sporadic appearance of being rundown and general weepiness (caused by pain).”

Peterson, who joined The Daily Wire in 2022 after returning to public life, has been noticeably diminished and agitated in recent appearances — including a debate in May against 20 atheists for YouTube channel Jubilee.

“He’s pausing the podcast at the moment, but we’re hopeful for a somewhat speedy recovery, given we at least know what’s going on, and there is treatment, and he’s responding well, although it’s pretty rough,” Mikhaila said.

“Praise GOD that we finally know what’s been going on. The fact that doctors don’t generally recognise that mould exposure in indoor air is causing chronic health issues is insane. The fact that this is the cause behind our food sensitivities and inability to tolerate anything other than meat (for eight years now), multiple disorders and diseases in my family, and is virtually unrecognised by the medical community, is absurd.”

Peterson and his daughter have previously raised eyebrows for their promotion of the carnivore diet, dining exclusively on beef with salt and soda water.

“Just like the medical system didn’t recognize ketogenic diets as a treatment for mental disorders 10 years ago (and still most doctors don’t),” Mikhaila said.

“Just like psych med withdrawal wasn’t recognized five years ago (and still more doctors don’t recognize it). This indoor air quality problem that causes Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome will be commonly diagnosed in the next five to 10 years. I am positive about that.”

Meanwhile, Peterson and Mikhaila’s family-run online education venture, Peterson Academy, is facing criticism from former students who claim they were expelled from the “free speech” university for speaking out.

Peterson Academy, which launched last year with 16 courses divided into eight-hour lectures, initially charged students $499 a year.

Former student Frankie Joy Bailer claimed she was expelled for sharing a meme about price increases on the internal message board, drawing the ire of Mikhaila.

“Being expelled from Peterson Academy for making memes was definitely not on my 2025 bingo card,” she said in a January interview on YouTube.

Dusty May Taylor, another expelled student, shared a lengthy blog post about her experience, revealing Peterson was “not active on the platform” that was largely run by Mikhaila as the chief executive.

“It is very ironic that Jordan Peterson is the man who consistently warns Canadians against vague laws being passed, which can be interpreted any which way and result in punitive action being taken against troublesome citizens,” she wrote.

Peterson Academy is headquartered in Arizona’s Paradise Valley, a mountain town east of the capital Phoenix.

Peterson and his family have reportedly purchased more than $50 million worth of Paradise Valley real estate in the past few years, including a $30 million estate previously owned by billionaire Alex Meruelo, the former owner of the Arizona Coyotes National Hockey League (NHL) team, according to local news outlet KTAR.

Peterson started his career at Harvard University before returning to his native Canada to take up a position as a professor at the University of Toronto in 1998.

He shot to global fame in late 2016 after posting a series of videos criticising a proposed Canadian law, Bill C-16 — which made it illegal to refuse to refer to a transgender person by their preferred “gender pronoun”.

His videos quickly went viral, coming just months before the 2016 US election of Donald Trump at a time when the global culture wars were going into overdrive.

Peterson’s YouTube lectures and appearances on popular podcasts like “The Joe Rogan Experience” drew huge audiences. He released his global best-selling self-help book, “12 Rules for Life,” in 2018 and embarked on a global tour, including Australia.

But the rock star psychologist’s life spectacularly fell apart shortly after his Australia tour in February 2019.

He all but disappeared from public life, with his lengthy absence sparking a flurry of speculation.

In September 2019, Mikhaila posted a confronting YouTube update revealing her father had been checked into rehab in New York seeking to get off the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam, saying he had begun taking the addictive medication to deal with stress from his wife’s battle with cancer.

Things took an even darker turn in early 2020, when Peterson sought alternative treatment for benzodiazepine dependence in a Russian hospital after what Mikhaila claimed was repeated misdiagnosis in North American hospitals.

While in Moscow, Peterson came down with pneumonia and was put into an induced coma for eight days.

He returned to Canada in October 2020, telling YouTube viewers he hoped to “return to something resembling a normal life.”

Late last year, he announced that he had fled Canada for the US, claiming that impending hate speech legislation, bill C-63, threatened to turn the country into a “totalitarian hellhole.”

Speaking on his daughter’s podcast, Peterson said an ongoing feud with the College of Psychologists of Ontario had also prompted the move.

The professional body had threatened to pull his practising license if he did not complete a social media re-education training course.

Peterson had challenged the order, but Canada’s Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against the college’s decision last August.