The son of the renowned Scottish psychoanalyst R D Laing has died on a Mediterranean island after apparently drinking and taking drugs.

The body of Adam Laing, 41, was found in a tent on Formentera, a tiny island off Ibiza, in a badly decomposed state.

Though police investigations have yet to conclude, a family member said yesterday that his death appeared to have been an accident.

Police initially believed he had been dead for as long as 40 days but it emerged yesterday that he had been seen in a bar in the area about a week ago.

Police said that an empty vodka bottle had been found at his feet and that there was also a bottle of wine, which was almost empty, in the tent. There were also indications that he might have consumed a quantity of drugs.

His mother, Jutta Werner, was yesterday making her way to Ibiza to find out more about what had happened to her son.

Mr Laing was described yesterday as a "free spirit" who had travelled widely, enjoyed sailing and latterly earned a living by transporting expensive yachts across the ocean.

His elder half brother, Adrian Laing, said that news of the death had come as a complete shock to him when he was informed on Tuesday. "All I know is he was found dead and there is no evidence to suggest it was suicide - no note left or anything like that. It came across as a bit of a wild night that went wrong," he said.

Adrian Laing described his younger brother as a "chip off the old block" who shared his father's unconventional approach to life.

Ronald David Laing, who was born in Glasgow and later attended Glasgow University, won prominence in the 1960s as a pioneer and maverick whose early work challenged some of the foundations of psychotherapy. He was later feted as a celebrity of the counter culture movement, famed for using LSD in therapy and breaking down barriers between doctors and patients.

He died in 1989, having won admirers and critics in equal measure and struggling at times with alcoholism and depression.

Adam was the eldest of three children R D Laing had with his second wife - in total, the psychoanalyst fathered 10 children with four women.

At the age of three, his parents took him to Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, where his father studied meditation, and India, before returning to London in 1972 where Adam grew up attending private schools. His parents separated when he was a teenager.

Adrian Laing, a barrister who has written a biography of his father, first got to know his younger brother while staying with the family in London when first called to the bar.

He said he kept in touch with him intermittently and did not believe his brother was unhappy prior to his death. "He was very much a free spirit, an adventurer. He didn't go to university and started travelling at an early age," Mr Laing said. "He was a very open and honest guy, very loving in his own way. He was a chip off the old block - he enjoyed the wild side of life."

Police said the tent in which Mr Laing's body had been found had been pitched on private land at Cap de Barbaria.

Police are waiting for an autopsy to be carried out but said that one of the possibilities was that the dead man had mixed alcohol and drugs.

Mr Laing was reported to have separated from his wife six months ago. He had been working on the island as a general handyman.