Is Jordan Peterson Collapsing?
He has had a clear health decline of late... was it because he did something to his teeth?
I’ve been asked a few times about Jordan Peterson, the renowned clinical psychologist and professor… and Youtuber.
As apparently his health and the way he looks has been declining of recent.
And i’d watched him on Youtube a couple of times this year when he had guests that were relevant to topics i’m interested in, but never really considered myself a consistent ‘fan’.
So I decided to jump in and research a bit to figure out what might be going on and if this is a clear case of biomechanical collapse.
And if so what is the trigger?
Who is Jordan Peterson?
Jordan Peterson rose to fame in 2016 when he took a public stance against Bill C-16, a Canadian law that he claimed would compel speech related to gender pronouns.
What began as a relatively obscure YouTube channel of a University of Toronto psychology professor quickly transformed into a global phenomenon. His lectures on psychology, mythology, and meaning resonated deeply with millions, particularly young men seeking guidance in a confusing world.
Peterson’s book “12 Rules for Life” became an international bestseller, selling millions of copies worldwide and launching him into a whirlwind speaking tour across the globe.
His ability to articulate complex psychological concepts and integrate them with evolutionary biology, mythology, and religious narratives created a unique intellectual position that few academics had achieved before.
His rise to prominence wasn’t just about his controversial political stances – though these certainly accelerated his fame. It was his capacity to speak about deep psychological truths and the importance of personal responsibility that truly captivated audiences.
Peterson positioned himself as a counter to what he perceived as dangerous ideological movements, becoming a figurehead for traditional values and individual responsibility.
And with close to 9 million subscribers on Youtube with many more on other channels… he has clearly become one of the top opinionmakers in his segment.
So is he collapsing? Let’s explore that next.
What health issues has he had recently?
Peterson’s health struggles have been well-documented and pretty severe.
In 2019, he revealed he had been prescribed benzodiazepines to help manage anxiety following his wife’s cancer diagnosis. When he attempted to discontinue the medication, he experienced what he described as a horrific withdrawal syndrome that standard treatments couldn’t address.
This led to a controversial medical journey that included traveling to Russia for an induced coma treatment to manage the withdrawal symptoms. He subsequently developed pneumonia, was placed on life support, and experienced numerous neurological complications. Following this ordeal, he spent time recovering in Serbia.
What’s particularly interesting is that Peterson’s health crisis emerged suddenly and dramatically in the last few years.
Which always rings off alarm bells to me.
What aesthetic changes?
Some close observers of Peterson over the years have noted significant changes in his appearance. He seems to be getting older looking a lot faster of late.
His facial structure appears to have altered subtly, with changes in definition around the jaw and cheekbones.
They’ve noticed increased facial puffiness, changes in vocal tone and speech patterns, and alterations in his posture and movement patterns during lectures and interviews.
I have definitely heard this strain in vocal tone and was very surprised when i first watched him on Youtube earlier this year because it is rare that someone with that type of strain becomes known for their speaking.
And it makes a lot more sense now that I understand that earlier when he was rising to fame his voice was a lot clearer. For example in a video I checked of him in 2015 he had a far clearer voice.
His energy levels also appear more variable in recent appearances, with periods of intense articulation followed by visible fatigue.
Did he do something to his teeth?
Jordan definitely didn’t have the prettiest of teeth early on, but he had pretty decent structure.
And so he’s a classic case for me of “if you let your body compensate naturally, it doesn’t matter that your teeth don’t look that pretty because you will still function pretty well and be healthy.”
In particularly you can see below how he had a fair bit of crowding on the lower arch in 2011.
And so then I began looking for signs of him changing his teeth artificially.
And voila! Up popped this Reddit post on the top of my Google results.
So I clicked the video (below) and sure enough… if you pay attention to his lower teeth they are very much in a line and look whiter than they used to be.
He most likely did some kind of clear aligners to space the teeth out. And perhaps some veneers or crowns with it.
And this would have messed up the protrusion/retrusion jaw positions that I talk about here:
Which would have brought things collapsing in.. and I believe the health and aesthetic decline we are seeing is a direct consequence of that.
Closing thoughts
So to conclude… I do think we are witnessing the biomechanical collapse of Jordan Peterson.
And I do think that it is related to some dental work that he probably had done a few years ago.
I find it interesting that he held out against vanity for so long and didn’t mind that his teeth didn’t look great all the way till almost the age of 60.
But then at around the age of 60 he fell victim to vanity and decided to ‘fix’ his teeth. Probably a function of his rising fame and perhaps not being proud of his smile.
As I noticed in Google image search that he pretty much never smiled for the camera throughout his rise to fame, which is most likely related to his teeth.
I guess vanity finds victims everywhere… after all one of his favorite sayings was “fix yourself before you try to fix the world.”
And I guess fixing his teeth was perhaps his way of doing just that.
He was also a strict carnivore.. beef/salt/butter and eggs… he talked about it often. He was asked if he would ever add something like ketchup. He replied… never
He also was heavily covid vaxxed/boosted , to which he was regretful .
i know someone in their mid 60's who had all their teeth removed and replaced. he's a medical person. all i could do was smile and nod as i screamed NOOOOOO!! in my head.