Former Star Wars Child Actor Enters Mental Health Facility

(RepublicanDaily.org) – Jake Lloyd, who portrayed the young Anakin Skywalker in the “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” was recently revealed to be in a mental health facility, where he has been receiving treatment for several months now.

The revelation came from his mother, Lisa Lloyd, who gave an exclusive interview with Scripps News. According to Lisa, her son was admitted into the facility after he suffered a “psychotic break” last year. The actor’s mother said that the incident occurred when they were in their car, when Jake suddenly turned the car off while his mother was driving. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the incident caused a traffic jam, with other motorists calling 911.

“There was a lot of yelling and screaming,” she said of her son’s episode.

Jake, who is now 35 years old, started showing signs of mental illness around the time he was in high school, his mother recounted. She told the news outlet that her son began talking about perceiving different realities, which caused him to be confused and lethargic. He was initially diagnosed with having a bipolar disorder, but Lisa said her son took various medications, none of which helped his condition.

The child actor’s mother also said that her son began telling her that he felt he was being followed by different people, and said that he sometimes saw people with “black eyes” watching him from afar. He would also engage in conversation with personalities on his television screen, Lloyd’s mother said. Jake’s condition also caused him to miss a lot of school, she added.

Still, Jake was able to graduate from high school in 2007 and was even able to enroll at Columbia College Chicago.

However, he had some really bad days, such as an episode in 2015 where he figured in a car accident after leading deputies on a car chase spanning several counties in South Carolina.

Still, Lisa remains hopeful about her son’s future, saying that Jake is in a “much better place” right now.

Lloyd has since been diagnosed with schizophrenia.