The 35-year-old, who is best known for his role as young Anakin Skywalker in 1999's 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace', is currently about 10 months into an 18-month stay in a mental health facility, says his mom Lisa.
- Mar 13, 2024
AceShowbiz - Jake Lloyd reportedly suffered a psychotic break last year that led to him being sent to a mental health facility. Luckily, after spending 10 months there, the former actor is now in "a lot better place."
Revealing the news was the 35-year-old's mother, Lisa Lloyd. When speaking to Scripps News on Monday, March 11, Lisa added, "He's doing much better than I expected... He is relating to people better and becoming a little bit more social, which is really nice."
Jake, best known for his role as young Anakin Skywalker in 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace", suffered a psychotic break in March 2023 while his mom was driving him home from picking up food at McDonald's. "He said he wanted to turn the car off. And he turned the car off in the middle of the three lanes, and we were in the middle lane," Lisa recalled. "There was a lot of yelling and screaming."
Claiming that the incident caused a traffic jam, Lisa said other drivers eventually called 911. "The police got there, and they asked Jake some questions," she recounted. "He was talking to them, but none of it made sense. It was all word salad."
Jake, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008, was sent to a hospital later that day. It was not until a few months later that he entered the rehabilitation facility for an 18-month stay.
Lisa said she first noticed Jake "having some trouble" when he was in high school and the condition got worse after he went to college. "He didn't tell us he was hearing voices at the time. But he was," she shared. "When they finally told him [he was schizophrenic], it totally threw him off into an even worse depression. It was really hard."
According to Lisa, her son rarely took his medication because he was assured that there was nothing wrong with him. The situation came to a head in June 2015 when the then 26-year-old was arrested for leading police on a multi-county chase before crashing his car. He ended up spending 10 months in jail and then sought psychiatric help.
