Last March, we announced to you on Hitek that Jake Lloyd, the young Anakin Skywalker of Star Warshad been admitted again to psychiatry. And for good reason, the actor suffers from schizophreniaand his state of health is often worrying… Fortunately, today he shares with his mother reassuring news.
Jake Lloyd, a fight with schizophrenia
Like his character in Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menacereleased in 1999, Jake Lloyd will have had traumatic experiences throughout his life. Starting with his schizophrenia, which caused him “a ten-month stay in prison, the conviction that people with black eyes are watching him, and a real psychotic crisis in the middle of a busy southern California street“. This is what Clayton Sandell reports on his site following several interviews with the actor and his mother Lisa. A descent into hell for the young mannow 35 years old, whose career never really took off due to his illness… Fortunately for him, his health is finally improving after an 18-month stay in a mental health center in Southern California.
A more positive state of health
One of the reasons for this improvement is that Jake Lloyd managed to overcome his anosognosia, a term describing the patient’s lack of awareness of their illness, often in cases of dementia. However, at the start of 2025, the actor lives in a new rehabilitation center where he is still receiving treatment, but where he is almost free to come and go as he pleases. The journalist describes the actor as speaking coherently and calmly.
While it has long been asserted that the criticism and negativity towards him following the release of The Phantom Menace would be the cause of his schizophrenia, his mother claims that it is due to history from his father’s side of the family. As for Jack Lloyd, he benefited from the support of his fans:
The experience I had with the fans was immediately therapeutic. Right now, it’s still therapeutic. It’s useful for people and it’s healthy. It’s not something I would shy away from. I really appreciate your time. I am very grateful to them.
Let’s hope that these words still encourage Internet users to be more sensitive towards child actors, the latter being particularly fragile (whether they suffer from illness or not).
