A 'complete zombie': James Packer opens up about bipolar treatment
James Packer has opened up about his struggles with mental health, revealing he was left feeling like a “complete zombie” after being prescribed lithium in 2022.
In an interview with the Seven Network’s Spotlight on Sunday night, his first face-to-face interview in almost a decade, the billionaire businessman was candid about some of his personal battles, including his bipolar diagnosis, Ozempic use and his break-up with singer Mariah Carey in 2016.
James Packer speaking candidly on Spotlight on Sunday night (left) and with then fiancée Mariah Carey in 2016.Credit: Seven Network; Getty Images
“Mariah and I had broken up and she thought I’d planted a story in a magazine, which I hadn’t, and it made her look bad,” the 57-year-old told Spotlight’s Liam Bartlett.
“She was threatening to say things about me and so it was, um ... it was a train wreck. It was a train wreck.
“The times that I’ve been at my worst, you know, I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
Packer and Carey first met in 2014, sparking a whirlwind romance that culminated in their engagement in 2016. The pair called the engagement off just months later in October that year.
For her part, Carey has spoken little about the relationship, failing to mention Packer in her memoir. But she told The Guardian in 2020: “If it was a relationship that mattered, it’s in the book. If not, it didn’t occur.
“We didn’t have a physical relationship, to be honest with you.”
Carey herself revealed her battle with bipolar disorder in 2018, saying she was diagnosed in 2001 following a physical and emotional breakdown.
Packer has previously spoken about his mental health when he revealed his bipolar diagnosis to a NSW casino inquiry in 2020.
Speaking on Sunday about the various medications he has been prescribed for his mental health, he said, “the worst drug I was on, I was put on lithium in 2022 and within two weeks I was a zombie. 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].”
Lithium is a mood stabilising drug commonly used to treat bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. It can help reduce the feelings of mania often associated with bipolar disorder, such as excitement, high mood and distraction.
“The latest psychiatrist I’m with [has since] told me I was bipolar, told me I was OCD and told me I was PTSD. So told me I was all three.
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“But when I was just being told I was bipolar, my truth was that 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,” said Packer of his initial treatment.
Packer continued to explain that he is not aware of what medication he is currently taking.
“I’m on something and I’m really embarrassed what I’m about to say ... I have a nurse that travels with me.
“I couldn’t tell you what I’m on because I’m on a bunch of things and someone does it for me.”
He did, however, confirm that he is on Ozempic, but continues to gain weight despite the fact that weight loss is a common side-effect of the drug.
“I’m on it and I’m putting on weight,” he said.
“I’m eating a lot of sugar. I’m consuming a lot of sugar,
“It’s just truckloads of sugar, truckloads of sugar – biscuits, everything, all of that.”
But having given up alcohol in 2017, Packer said he is in a much better place and is not concerned about tipping the scales.
“I’ve put the weight on, but I’ve been mentally better.”
“For me it’s a journey. You’re not interviewing someone who’s saying to you, ‘I’ve got it worked out and I’ve got all the answers.’”
“I’m here saying, ‘I’m not that person (but) I’m doing my best’.”
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