‘Complete zombie’: James Packer opens up on mental health struggles

Billionaire James Packer has opened up on his mental health struggles and the worst drug he was prescribed.

Billionaire James Packer has opened up about his struggles with mental health, revealing he was prescribed a drug which left him feeling a “complete zombie”.

The businessman spoke candidly about his mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, and the “medication merry-go-round” he’s been prescribed on Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday

“The worst drug I was on, I was put on lithium in 2022 and within two weeks I was a zombie,” he told Channel 7 reporter Liam Bartlett in his first TV interview in more than a decade. “I was a complete zombie.”

“My experience is having worked with psychiatrists in Israel, in Argentina, in America and all sorts of places is if you get put on the wrong drugs, it can be worse. It can be worse [than the mental illness itself].”

Packer said lithium was the worst drug was prescribed. Picture: Channel 7

The 57-year-old, who said he is “mentally a lot better” than he was six months ago, continues to take medication for his mental health. But he admitted he doesn’t know exactly what he takes.

“I’m on something and I’m really embarrassed what I’m about to say … I have a nurse that travels with me,” he explained.

“I couldn’t tell you what I’m on because I’m on a bunch of things and someone does it for me.”

The billionaire said he doesn’t know which drugs he currently takes to treat his mental health. Picture: Channel 7

Reflecting on his past struggles, Packer recalled the dark period of his life following his split from his ex-fiancee and US singer Mariah Carey.

The pair dated for 18 months before they broke up in October 2016.

“I was engaged to Mariah Carey for a while. And that same week it came out that Mariah and I had broken up, she thought I’d planted a story in a magazine about it, which I hadn’t, that made her look bad,” he recalled.

“And so she was threatening to say things about me, and so it was a train wreck.”

Packer relented on his “train wreck” split from Mariah Carey. Picture: Brent N. Clarke/FilmMagic

During that period, Packer, who no longer drinks, said he experienced a “hallucination” while sober.

“I thought the world was against me. I thought people were … I’m too embarrassed to even say what it was. But when I had this hallucination, I resigned off all of my company boards.

“I called my mother and said, ‘Mum, you’ve got to come and help me.’”

Packer spent two weeks at Harvard University where he was diagnosed as bipolar for the second time in his life.

“I think the drugs that they prescribed me, frankly, were worse than whatever I was suffering. “The latest psychiatrist I worked with told me I was OCD and told me I was PTSD, so told me I was all three.

“But when I was just being told I was bipolar … my doctors would do anything to make sure I wasn’t in mania and as long as I wasn’t in mania, they were happy.”

Packer said he earlier experienced mania in 2013, revealing it impacted his marriage with his ex-wife Erica Packer, with whom he shares three children.

James Packer said his ex-wife Erica Baxter deserved better. Picture: Channel 7

“When you’re in mania or, this is my truth anyway, when I’ve been in mania, I feel at my best and I’m probably at my most unreasonable,” he said.

“And as I look back, that probably cost me my marriage with Erica and I was probably in mania for a couple of years.”

When asked if his depressive moments lead him to substance abuse, Packer said: “I don’t want to go too much into that. I mean, I drank too much and, you know, did things I shouldn’t have done.

“Yes is the answer to that. I’m sure that played a role in some of my mental health challenges, no doubt. I felt very guilty for my marriage to Erica not working and I was self-destructive. She deserved better than I gave and I became self-destructive.”

Over a decade on, he said he’s put on weight and is in a better place mentally but still a “work in progress”.

“For me, it’s a journey. You’re not interviewing someone and I’ve got all the answers. I’m not that person. I’m not that person. I’m doing my best,” he added.

Originally published as ‘Complete zombie’: James Packer opens up on mental health struggles