Star Wars Child Actor Jake Lloyd Reveals Mental Health Update Amid Schizophrenia Treatment
By TooFab Staff 1/4/2025 2:24 PM PT
"The experience I've had with the fans is immediately therapeutic," said the Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace star, 35, who just recently completed an 18-month stay at an inpatient mental health facility.
Former child star Jake Lloyd is sharing a rare update on his mental health amid his struggles with schizophrenia.
In a recent interview with author Clayton Sandell, Lloyd -- who is best known for playing a young Anakin Skywalker in 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace -- reflected on his journey with the mental health condition, and opened up about how he's doing as he continues to receive treatment.
As noted in the interview, which was conducted a few days before Christmas, Lloyd, 35, had completed an 18-month stay at an inpatient mental health facility a few weeks prior, and is currently living at a new rehabilitation center where he will continue to get treatment.
And after nearly two decades following his schizophrenia diagnosis in 2008, Lloyd shared he's doing "pretty good."
"Pretty good, considering these 20 years of time that have come to an end," he said when Sandell asked how the former actor is feeling. "I can now accept taking on continued treatment, and therapy, and my meds. Everyone's been very supportive.”
Lloyd's mother, Lisa, who Sandell noted was also on the phone call, clarified that it hasn't technically been 20 years since her son received his diagnosis.
Lisa also shared that an important factor in Lloyd's progress is being able to address his struggles with anosognosia, a medical condition, when regarding mental illness, in which "someone is unaware of their own mental health condition or that they can't perceive their condition accurately," according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).