Presley Gerber detailed the psychiatric medications he was relying on in the final months before his suspected overdose death at 27.
The model and photographer, son of supermodel Cindy Crawford, 59, and businessman Rande Gerber, 62, died Sunday in a Los Angeles rehab facility of a suspected overdose, his family confirmed. In a since-deleted December 1 Instagram post, Presley laid out the exact prescriptions he was juggling as he struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues.
“Here’s some clarity for ya – the truth will set you free (hopefully) haha. I’ve had a lot of loss in many different forms recently. That is not an excuse, but it’s the reason — or part of —why I am where I’m at now,” he wrote on Instagram.
According to Presley, his regimen included Valium to calm his central nervous system, buprenorphine for pain and opioid use disorder, and Xanax reserved for severe panic attacks. He expressed frustration with the psychiatric approach he had encountered across roughly 15 different doctors.
“Every psychiatrist I’ve had — and I’ve had, like, 15 — they’re all like, ‘Here’s 20 medications. Take this if you feel like this, take this as needed,'” he shared. “And I’m like, ‘No, don’t give me that much leeway. I need some direction.'”
Presley also noted he had significantly reduced his alcohol consumption, explaining that drinking was “no longer serving” him, and emphasized surrounding himself with positive influences. He acknowledged the difficulty of navigating recovery while maintaining connections in Hollywood circles.
“I’ve grown up in Hollywood, and there’s a lot of people around that I love to death, but right now, I try not to be around them,” he wrote.
His candid disclosures were part of a broader “Mental Health Mondays” series he maintained on social media, through which he documented unconventional approaches to treatment including ibogaine, a West African psychoactive root bark sometimes used for opioid addiction.
“I’m hoping this reaches people in many ways so you feel like you’re not alone, because that is how I feel most of the time,” Presley concluded in the December post. “I have a feeling if I say all of this, a lot of people will at least know that there’s someone else going through it.”
His sister Kaia Gerber, 24, had publicly supported his openness in a Vogue interview last month, calling him the “greatest teacher” for demonstrating that “there’s only so much you can hide from the world.” The family — Cindy, Rande, and Kaia — issued a joint statement after his death asking “for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.”
Presley’s final Instagram post, shared August 5, showed him smiling in what appeared to be a garden setting while modeling Vuori clothing. Six months before his death, he had described himself as “absolutely terrified” while undergoing addiction treatment, though he framed it as “facing what I had been running from.”
The Gerber family had rallied around Presley throughout his documented struggles, with Cindy Crawford having praised her son as a “warrior” in the months leading up to his death. His December medication disclosure came amid this visible family support system as he attempted to manage multiple prescribed substances simultaneously.
The circumstances of his death drew immediate attention to the challenges of medication management within recovery settings, particularly when patients report receiving insufficient guidance from prescribing physicians about how to navigate complex psychiatric regimens.
Presley was born into one of America’s most visible modeling dynasties, with his mother Cindy Crawford among the most recognizable faces in fashion history and his sister Kaia following the same career path. He had pursued modeling and photography while periodically using his platform to discuss his mental health journey, creating a rare public record of a young celebrity’s unfiltered experience with psychiatric treatment and addiction recovery.
The family has not announced memorial arrangements.