Phillip Adams' sister Lauren says he showed 'extremely concerning' signs of mental illness
The sister of Phillip Adams, who shot dead six people before taking his own life, has said that her brother’s mental health deteriorated dramatically over the years. The former NFL player was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) brain disease when he allegedly carried out the violent act in April, a coroner recently said.
Sister Lauren Adams also confirmed it and said, “His mental health degraded fast and terribly bad. There was unusual behavior. I’m not going to get into all that (symptoms). We definitely did notice signs of mental illness that was extremely concerning, that was not like we had ever seen. He wasn't a monster. He was struggling with his mental health.”
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Who is Phillip Adams' sister?
Phillip played in the NFL from 2010 to 2015. The 33-year-old played 78 games for six different teams and during that time suffered several concussions. His career included time with the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, and Atlanta Falcons.
After he left football, Lauren supported him and told USA Today though he never acted violently, his behavior had turned aggressive. She stated, “In conversations, it would escalate to arguments. Normally it would just be a normal conversation. His temperament had changed where he was super laid back forever and all of the sudden he had that temper. You could just tell that something was off.”
Lauren went on to suggest that her brother’s mental health issues can be traced back to his NFL career. After ending his career in football, Phillip returned to South Carolina. Speaking about that time, Lauren said: “He really didn’t want anything to do with football. He didn't watch it. If we were watching it, he would leave the room or ask us to turn it off.”
Explaining further on Phillip’s degrading condition, his sister mentioned, “He’s always been into looking nice. Like he’s always been like a ladies man. He stopped dating. It was just a lot things that were part of his character that just disappeared. So many people come up to me or call me or text me and ask me, ’What’s going on with your brother?’ And I’m like, 'I don't know.'”
Lauren also mentioned that once her brother spoke about applying for disability benefits with the NFL. “I know he had been applying for disability and he said they were making it hard for him. He felt like they were just trying to nickel and dime him. I think he got upset about that and that’s kind of where it started, with him kind of feeling like the whole world was against him,” she added.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, December 14, Dr Ann McKee said that Phillips had stage two CTE – similar to the condition of Aaron Hernandez, a football tight end and convicted murderer. Speaking about Phillips, the doctor stated: “He was getting increasingly paranoid, he was having increasing difficulty with his memories and he was very likely having more and more compulsive behaviours. He lived largely by himself, it may not have been recognized, but I doubt this was entirely out of the blue.”