Liam Payne seemed happy and content in the days leading up to his death, joking with his girlfriend over breakfast as he shared their plans for the day with fans, including horse riding and a game of polo.
But psychologists who spoke to DailyMail.com said there were subtle signs the singer was still struggling with addiction and mental health.
Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is an emergency room expert in New York City who often treats people who come to the hospital with mental health problems.
She said in response to his most recent public appearances and social media posts that he looked ‘frail, had lost weight and perhaps not getting enough sleep’ despite being on holiday for two weeks.
In Payne’s post to fans at his hotel in Argentina, experts said he appeared despondent, suggesting he was experiencing mental problems in the lead-up to his death.
And Dr. Robi Ludwig, a New York City psychotherapist who specializes in mood and thought disorders, said, “He looks depressed and in some cases it seems like he hasn’t been taking good care of himself.”
Payne’s death at age 31 shocked the entertainment world on Wednesday, given the star’s positive online posts just hours earlier.
Hours before his fatal fall in Buenos Aires, Payne posted a Snapchat selfie for his fans with the caption, “Beautiful day in Argentina (heart emoji).”
Dr. Ludwig told DailyMail.com: ‘On the beautiful day in Argentina message – the text did not match his image in the photo.
‘He looks quite despondent in the image next to a cheerful text. Maybe this gives some insight into how he presented himself: a positive message about something he was experiencing, something different inside.’
He also posted photos of his attractive hotel room with the caption: “Glad to get away for a while.”
Dr. Ludwig added: “Lucky him being away for a while most likely meant there was something he wanted to get rid of.
‘The focus on nature symbolizes a desire to heal.’
The star heartbreakingly said he was “glad to get some time away” less than an hour before falling prey to his death. Experts said this indicated he may have been running away from something
Payne appeared to be in good spirits in the days and hours leading up to his death, as he posed for photos with his fans and signed autographs. Dr. Ludwig said Payne looks “appreciative, kind and generous” in photos with fans.
A TikTok video posted by fans shows a person named Guillo telling Payne that he “saved my life in so many ways” and showed the 31-year-old getting the same tattoos inked on his body.
Payne hugged Guillo and said it was a “pleasure” to meet him and thanked him for his kind words, said they could take some “cool photos” and asked for his “nombre.”
Just hours later, he fell from a third-floor balcony of his hotel.
After his fatal fall, Argentine police found in his room a bottle of whiskey, a lighter, foil and a phone that could belong to Payne, as well as a white powder and drugs such as clonazepam and energy pills.
Mental health experts told DailyMail.com that in the days and weeks leading up to Payne’s death, he ‘looked depressed’, seemed ‘weak’ and ‘disheveled’.
Liam Payne (9pictured in Argentina) may have been ‘semi-conscious or completely unconscious’ when he fell fatally from a third-floor hotel balcony, Argentina’s public prosecutor’s office said.
A full autopsy, including a blood toxicology test, has not been made public and it remains unclear whether Payne had used drugs in the lead-up to his fall.
Still, doctors said his recent appearances were highly suggestive of substance abuse.
He reportedly destroyed his laptop and had to be carried from the hotel lobby to his room.
While it is still unclear whether Payne’s fall from a third-floor balcony was an intentional suicide or a tragic accident, mental health professionals speculated that he had recently relapsed into drug and alcohol addiction to deal with his emotional problems.
Dr. Ludwig added, “We don’t know if he was sober, even if he said he was.”
In February, Payne posted a video to TikTok detailing the making of his new song called “Teardrops,” in which he sings “Don’t know how to love you when I’m broken too / Maybe your words make sense / I would the Problem, I’m so sorry.’
The image shows a table in Payne’s hotel room in Argentina, where he plunged to his death from a third-floor balcony
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The video starts with Payne sobbing into his hands.
Dr Nesheiwat said, “When he watched the video, he was quite emotional. He was vulnerable and open. Liam had a known history of struggles with drugs and alcohol, which he spoke openly about in interviews.”
His history of substance abuse likely caused him to act more impulsively or “appear more tired and sloppy than normal,” according to Dr. Dakari Quimby, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles.
Very often, as Payne has admitted, people struggling with addiction turn to substances to self-medicate. Substance abuse generally goes hand in hand with mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Payne rose to fame at the age of 14 and came into the spotlight when he joined boy band One Direction. The big change in his life may have disrupted his development, Dr. Ludwig said, forever affecting the way he makes decisions and how he thinks about himself and his self-esteem.
During his years on the road and doing press duties, Payne said he had endless access to alcohol while holed up in a hotel room, at one point even becoming agoraphobic and unable to go outside.
Matt Kurdish, a trained social worker and CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City, said, “I think there’s a lot of evidence to show that young people who were exposed to this kind of celebrity lifestyle so early really had difficulty coping.
The development of the brain, especially the frontal lobes – where logic, reasoning and decision-making take place – continues in young people until about the age of 25.
Mr Kurdish said: ‘When you add in all the fame and the constant watching and speculation about social media and the fans, it puts a lot of pressure on people, especially young people, who may not have the means and resources yet with being able to handle that kind of pressure.”