A controversial psychology professor and self-help author who has spent much of his career railing against political correctness is recovering from an addiction to tranquilizers, his daughter said.

Jordan Peterson, 57, emerged last week from an intensive care unit in a Russian hospital after being treated for a dependence on benzodiazepine, an anti-anxiety medication.

Peterson sought alternative treatments in Russia after being repeatedly misdiagnosed in North American hospitals, including a clinic in New York, Mikhaila Peterson said in a video script she shared with Canadas National Post newspaper.

He nearly died several times, the daughter said, adding her father had been taking the drug for years to treat anxiety brought on by a severe autoimmune reaction to food. Doctors increased his dosage last year to help him cope with stress after his wife, Tammy, was diagnosed with cancer.

The daughter and her husband took Peterson, a professor at the University of Toronto who has long battled depression, to Moscow last month; he was diagnosed with pneumonia and put into an induced coma for eight days, according to the National Post. She described her fathers withdrawal as horrific.

In the past, Peterson said he was able to beat back depression with the meat-heavy diet his daughter encouraged him to adopt. Cutting out greens altogether improved both his mental and physical health, he said in a 2018 interview.

The Twelve Rules of Life author has been released from the hospital and is taking anti-seizure medication, his daughter said. Although he has trouble walking and typing on his own, he is on the mend, she said.

Hes smiling again, she said.

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Jordan Peterson recovering from tranquilizer addiction