Jordan Peterson's daughter asks for prayers amid ongoing heath issues: 'We still don’t know 100% what’s going on'

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Assistant Editor Thursday, December 11, 2025

Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson is back home after a lengthy hospitalization, but he remains seriously ill, according to a new update shared by his daughter, who asked for continued prayers for her father. 

In a post on Instagram Wednesday, Peterson’s daughter, Mikhaila Fuller, shared an older photo of the two of them, along with her husband, and wrote that the past six months have been “extremely stressful” as her father continues to battle significant health challenges.

“Dad’s back home, out of the hospital. He’s still not doing well but he’s not doing as badly as he was,” she wrote. “Prayers are still much appreciated. Thank you to everyone that’s commented and reached out, it makes a lot of difference. We still don’t know 100% what’s going on, but we have great specialists and we’re waiting, hoping and praying for recovery.”

Peterson, 63, was diagnosed earlier this year with chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), a complex condition often linked to exposure to water-damaged buildings. 

In previous updates, Fuller has said her father has suffered from symptoms since at least 2017, though the family only recently discovered the underlying cause.

In August, she announced he would be stepping away from public commitments to focus on treatment. By early fall, Peterson had spent nearly a month in intensive care and was, at one point, unable to communicate with relatives for weeks.

“This summer’s been exceedingly difficult and terrifying,” Fuller said in an earlier video, noting that her father and her newborn daughter were both rushed to the hospital on the same day. Her infant daughter survived a near-fatal cardiac crisis. Fuller described the string of crises as “a spiritual attack,” but said the support they’ve received, especially from people praying for her father, has been “incredibly helpful.”

“It’s been heartbreaking and brutal,” she said in an October update. “But it looks like things are headed in the right direction.”

She added that the family is “relying heavily on the Lord through this and seeing miracles around us.”

Peterson doesn’t identify as a Christian but frequently discusses faith and has interviewed numerous Christian leaders, including Dallas Jenkins, Greg Laurie and Tim Tebow. His family’s own faith journey has also drawn interest: his wife, Tammy, entered the Catholic Church in 2023, and Fuller has said she became a Christian two years earlier.

In a 2024 interview with The Christian Post, Peterson discussed what he sees as the benefits of Christianity, stressing that exposing children to traditional religious values could be key in navigating the complexities of modern life.

"We are seeing a revival of church-going, especially of the more conservative type," Peterson said. "And I suspect that’s probably also useful. Providing [children] with something like exposure to classic religious ideas is necessary." 

He also challenged Christians to be grounded in skepticism — not of faith itself, but of those who would misuse it.

"By their fruits, you will know them," he said, stressing that the Scripture verse is useful when determining whether religious leaders are genuinely committed to the faith or merely using it for their own purposes.

“You have to pay attention to the fact that not everybody who says ‘Lord, Lord is going to enter the Kingdom of Heaven,’” he said.

In a YouTube message posted Dec. 9, Fuller also thanked people for praying for her father, adding: “I don’t even have words for how helpful [your prayers have] been. That’s really made a difference this year, getting through a whole bunch of crazy health things.” 

Fuller also said she won’t provide another health update “until something changes more significantly” with her father, “hopefully for the better.”