Jake Lloyd – the child star who played young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace – is finally opening up about his mental health struggles… and opening up about the recent treatment he received.
The former actor spoke to the author Clayton Sandell – Co-author of “Star Wars Timelines” – along with his mother, Lisa Lloydfor a feature posted on Sandell's Substack.
According to Sandell, Jake just finished an 18-month stay in a psychiatric rehab facility after suffering a “psychotic break” in March 2023… during which his mother said he turned off his car's engine while driving a two-and-a-half mile ride drove along the street. Lane highway.
When asked how he felt, Lloyd told Sandell: “Pretty good considering these 20 years have come to an end. I can now accept that I will continue to receive treatment, therapy and my medication. Everyone was very supportive.”
As he answers questions and is ready to talk, Sandell notices that he has mixed up some words and used several tangents…which Lisa says happens when he gets tired.
Lloyd says the medication acted as a cushion for him…and made him feel less unstable in everyday life.
While he still lives in a rehab facility, it allows him to come and go as he pleases…acting more as a home base as he prepares to return to the outside world.
As for his “rock bottom” — his words — Lloyd says he's grateful for it…so he could “honestly participate in treatment, honestly take your medications, and honestly live with your diagnosis.”
We've covered and reported on Lloyd – who was cast in the controversial “SW” prequel when he was just eight years old – for years several arrests in front of his mother admitted he was in rehab about 10 months after his stay.
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We saw him too go to the gym in LA in October…which would have been just a few months after he left the full-time mental health rehab facility.
Sounds like he's on the right track…and he's feeling good for the first time in years.