“He got a lot of criticism for this, and he may not be as internally resilient as someone needs to be to weather a storm of criticism like that,” said Alan Hilfer, chief psychologist at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. “It might have been such a tremendous injury to his ego that he just sort of fell apart.”
Hilfer has not seen Russell, nor does he know his medical history. But he said worry and self doubt can lead to sleep problems and poor self-care, which can trigger irrational behavior such as Russell’s.
“Sometimes we see this in response to people not taking good care of themselves when they’re under great deal of stress and pressure,” Hilfer said. “They become overwhelmed and anxious and it interferes with their ability to sleep. Without treatment, it can cause disorientation and mental confusion.”
Hilfer said severe dehydration can also cause strange behavior.
“Dehydration can absolutely cause all the signs of mental confusion he seemed to be experiencing,” he said, adding that severe dehydration would most likely be brought on by illness, but could also result from poor self-care.
A bad reaction to a medication, possible a prescription sleep aide, might also be to blame, Hilfer said.
