His so-called fall could rival even that of his on-screen character, Anakin Skywalker. However, the true story of child star, Jake Lloyd's post-Star Wars life may also have a glimmer of hope as he has been officially diagnosed with schizophrenia and will get appropriate treatment after spending ten months in prison.
Last year, Lloyd made headlines after he was involved in a high-speed chase with police that ended with him crashing into a tree. He was arrested on June 15, 2015.
The mother of the 27-year-old actor maintained that his reckless behavior was due to a mental condition he was not taking his drugs for. She even admitted that he had previously tried to attack her when he skipped taking his medication, but she chose not to press charges.
As first revealed on TMZ, Lloyd has now been officially diagnosed with schizophrenia and transferred out of prison and into a psychiatric ward where he will be getting treatment instead of finishing his sentence.
According to the same report, his mother, Lisa, said that Lloyd is doing much better at the mental facility and she can “already see an improvement in his personality.”
Lloyd is not the first child actor to suffer from the dark side of stardom and being in Hollywood at a young age. Although he has not been in any major film after he shot to fame in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, he has done a few interviews where he remembers those days as hell for a 10-year-old – being made to do up to 60 interviews a day for promotion, and getting bullied in school for years by kids who would taunt him with light saber noises.
His days as Anakin Skywalker enraged him so much that he destroyed all his Star Wars memorabilia and has pretty much been out of Hollywood save for a small role in 2005's Madison.
“I’ve learned to hate it when the cameras are pointed at me. When you have something like that there’s a lot of expectations for it to meet the standards of the public and I don’t think George [Lucas] did that,” he said.
No one quite knows yet what causes schizophrenia. However, some studies have shown that people with chronic stress may be at greater risk of developing schizophrenia and other mental disorders.
Reportedly, no timetable has been set on when Lloyd will be released from the facility. The priority now is ensuring that he gets proper treatment and gets better no matter how long that may take.
