Diego Maradona’s psychologist told the Argentinian star’s death trial that the legendary footballer suffered from bipolar disorder and had a narcissistic personality.
“There is a clear clinical picture: an addiction, a bipolar disorder and a personality disorder. These are three chronic conditions that last a lifetime”psychologist Carlos Diaz said on Thursday in the trial of Maradona’s medical team, accused of negligence in his last days of life, in 2020 at the age of 60, according to France24.
Although the star’s addictions to substances such as cocaine and alcohol were well known, the diagnoses presented on Thursday had never been made public before.
Diaz is one of the defendants in the trial, and his statements about Maradona’s mental health appear to follow the idea that he was a difficult patient – part of the defense’s broader strategy, which claims the former footballer died of natural causes.
The psychologist stated that those close to Maradona told him that “his substance addiction was closely related to athletic performance, and when some form of frustration arose, he didn’t know how to handle it”.
Considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, Maradona died in November 2020 while recovering at home after surgery for a brain hematoma.
He died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema – a condition where fluid builds up in the lungs – two weeks after the operation.
Seven medical professionals, including a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist and a nurse, face eight to 25 years in prison if they are found guilty of manslaughter – meaning they continued an action even though they knew it could lead to death – in relation to the care given to Maradona in his final days.
Those accused deny any responsibility for Maradona’s death, claiming the 1986 World Cup star died of natural causes.
Diaz told the court that he met Maradona in October 2020. “I remember Maradona sitting in an armchair drinking wine”he said. “It reminded me of my father, also an alcoholic, who had died a few months before.”
“I felt he had a real desire for change, he was determined”the psychologist added.
The first trial over the footballer’s death was dismissed last year after it was discovered that one of the judges had participated in the making of a clandestine documentary about the case.
The second trial, held before a new panel of judges, began in April in Buenos Aires.
