Presley Gerber's crippling secret trauma as teenager that he could never overcome: 'It's not that he didn't try'

Presley Gerber was just 15 when he was thrust into the limelight, following in his supermodel mother's footsteps down catwalks and landing jobs with the likes of Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana.

But the pressures of fast fame proved to be too much for the only son of Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, with the teen quitting modeling after just a few years. 

Behind the scenes, Presley was already struggling with his mental health and a feeling that he 'didn't ever think he was enough,' a source told the Daily Mail. It was also then that he started to turn to hard drugs.

Presley harbored hopes of a career away from the industry that had made his family famous, at one point weighing whether to become a photographer or a real estate agent. 

'He wanted to find his own path, away from his famous parents,' a source told the Daily Mail. 'He wanted a career that was all his that he was proud of.' 

Earlier this year, he even started thinking about becoming a professional therapist.

But none of those plans ever fully materialized, and Presley continued to struggle to find his footing before his shock death of a suspected overdose on Sunday at the age of 27 inside the Resolutions Living rehab home in Santa Monica, California. 

Before his first runway as a teenager, he was known for his wide smile and laid-back Malibu look. But the change in him over the years was striking, with the young model tattooing his face with the word 'misunderstood' and earning himself a DUI in 2018.

'There's something to be said about when I started working, which was like around the age of 14 and I started traveling and I stopped doing like all [sports],' Presley said on Instagram in March this year.

'What I'm trying to say is the less activity that was in my life, especially for me in the ocean, like the more medication I found having to be integrated into my life, [my] quality of life rapidly decreased with the decrease in natural endorphins and dopamine.'

But, as he went on to admit, Presley had felt he 'had to start making money, I had to start, I got a job.'

'It wasn't that he didn't try. He just couldn't seem to handle the pressure of being born into a famous family. He always felt he was being judged by outsiders,' a source previously told the Daily Mail.

After he took a step back from modeling, Presley tried to rediscover what would make him happy - to little success.

'Presley really struggled to find his place in the world, but he was lost,' said a source close to the Gerber family.

'He had ADHD so it was hard for him to focus, it was a challenge sometimes to process his thoughts.

'He said he was always learning from his experiences, but he couldn't get to a place where he felt confident enough to have a solid career.

'He was also very reflective and into talking about mental health. Real estate agents are not like that, they go to parties and drink and live the high life, they throw soirees, take people to fancy dinners, make small talk. They don't sit at home and talk about staying sober. It just wasn't a match.' 

And then there was the issue of his image.

'You can't sell a $20 million mansion when you have a tattoo of a marijuana leaf on your hand. Wealthy people don't like that,' the source said bluntly.

There was also a real worry among loved ones that he was starting to resemble Aaron Carter, the dashing blonde singer who drowned after taking sedatives in 2022 at the age of 34.

'There was worry from the family that Presley was headed down Aaron's path, sure, and there was a big fear his drugs could be laced with Fentanyl,' said the source. 

In his last months, Presley told friends he was happy with how popular his candid social media posts about mental health had become.

'He did talk this year about becoming an addiction counselor so he could help other people, that was important to him and made him feel good,' said our source.

'He was into psychology and what makes people depressed. He wanted to heal people and have real conversations.'

But his lack of education was a serious hindrance. 

'He was very smart, but he never went to high school really, though he got his diploma. He studied while he was modeling, so he kind of just got it done,' the source said.

'And he never went to college. So it was a long road ahead for him to become a therapist.'

To become a professional therapist, he would have had to complete four years of college and then a master's degree.

'Kids like Presley, who already have so much money, don't usually take six years out of their life to study psychology to end up earning $100,000 a year as a therapist. They like to have fun,' said the source.

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Crawford for comment. 

Presley was found dead in a bedroom of a Santa Monica rehab on Saturday. 

According to a police statement, officers 'responded to a report of a possible overdose' at approximately 9.35am on September 20. 'At this time, there is no indication of foul play.'

His cause of death has not yet been revealed.