Tyler Baltierra is one of the more beloved husbands in the Teen Mom franchise in large part due to how candid he’s been regarding his struggles with mental illness.
Last month, Baltierra revealed that he suffers from bipolar disorder, and he was widely applauded for helping to de-stigmatize the condition by discussing it openly.
Of course, now fans are on the alert and many have been looking for signs of a manic or depressive episodes in every word that Tyler posts on his social media accounts.
Rumors that Baltierra is suicidal have been circulating for the past week, and it seems his latest tweets have only led to increased concern from some of his followers.
The strange thing is, the tweet that’s attracting the most attention sees Tyler revealing one of his favorite therapeutic activities.
“I have always loved writing & as a kid I used to write poetry, I had pages full of it!” Baltierra wrote.
“But I gave it up when I got a little older & ended up throwing it all away. I’ve been inspired recently to pick it back up & I’m on a mission to refill my notebook! #SelfCare #MyOwnTherapy”
On its own, the tweet would likely give the impression that Tyler is in a very good place these days.
But he posted it along with some snippets of his poetry, and fans are worried about the references to suicide and self-harm that appear in Baltierra’s verse.
“From on top of this mountain, I’ll cut these ties, not my wrists,” he writes in one poem.
“I’ll fight with these words, instead of my fists,” he continues.
“I’ll take this newfound strength, leap & fly out of this cage & I’ll make sure I’m the only one who’s in control & I’m the only one who’s turning the page!”
It sounds to us like Tyler’s feeling empowered and optimistic these days, but many of his followers just can’t get over that reference to self-harm.
The issue, it seems, is that suicide is on Tyler’s mind at all, even as an option that he staunchly rejects.
Ever since he went public with his diagnosis of bipolar disorder, fans have been on the lookout for the jarring mood swings that often characterize the disorder.
And many are concerned that self-harm will remain in Baltierra’s thoughts during one of his inevitable depressive lows.
It’s not hard to see why they’re concerned, but ultimately, this amounts to armchair psychotherapy from people who don’t know enough about Tyler or his condition to make predictions about what will happen next.
Watch Teen Mom OG online for more on Tyler and wife Catelynn Lowell’s struggles with mental illness.
