'Star Wars' actor Jake Lloyd's mother breaks silence on his mental health

Star Wars former star Jake Lloyd, who appeared in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as Anakin Skywalker, has to undergo 18 months of mental treatment following Schizophrenia diagnosis.

With the 25th anniversary of the 1999 movie fast approaching, Jake’s mother spoke to Scripps News and shared that her son is currently in a mental health facility after a ‘full-blown psychotic break’ back in March 2023.

Shedding light on his struggle she revealed that Jake experienced initial symptoms during high school where he would “see people with black eyes staring at him” and was prescribed medications for bipolar disorder.

Jake was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia which “totally threw him off into an even worse depression,” his mother (Lisa) shared, “It was really hard.

She also recalled the time Jake called her, insisting that he’d been shot in his apartment which Lisa realized was a hallucination.

However, Jake Lloyds, now 35 years old, is currently 10 months into an 18-month stay in a mental rehabilitation facility.

“He’s doing much better than I expected”, Lisa admitted, “He’s becoming a little bit more social. It's kind of like having more of the old Jake back because he has always been incredibly social until he became schizophrenic”.

It is pertinent to mention that the former child star announced retirement from acting in 2001, at the age of 12, due to ‘intense bullying’, following his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker.

Jake’s tragic revelation pulled a string in fans’ hearts as they took to social media to extend their support.

A user wrote, “Glad he’s recovering but this is very sad to hear”.

While another shared, Young Anakin made my kids love Star Wars. Let’s show Jake Lloyd compassion as he heals”.

A third user expressed, “I’m glad he’s doing better. I had wondered what happened to him after that film. Glad to see that he’s doing ok. Still loves Star Wars that’s a good thing”, whereas a fourth user mentioned, “People were so unfairly cruel to him as a kid. I’m glad he’s doing much better now.”