Tyler Baltierra has struggled with his mental health for a long, long time.
Catelynn Lowell has problems of her own too, of course, and there’s definitely a focus on hers on Teen Mom OG, but fans will know that Tyler hasn’t had it easy, either.
He and Catelynn both grew up in the same kind of toxic environment, after all, and they both had a very hard time after placing their daughter for adoption when they were teenagers.
For the past few months, Tyler has been becoming more and more vocal about how bad things have gotten for him.
But are they so bad that he’ll head off to a treatment center like Catelynn did?
A Rough Beginning
Tyler has always seemed close to his mother, Kim, but we can’t really say the same for his father. Butch Baltierra has been in and out of prison for Tyler’s entire life, and if he hasn’t been in prison, he’s been on some kind of probation.
The Truth Hurts
Butch even told Tyler once that he loved cocaine more than he loved him. Can you even imagine how damaging that must have been for Tyler?
A Suicide Attempt
An especially heartbreaking little tidbit about Tyler was that he tried to commit suicide when he was only 12 years old. This is very dark, but he said that he hung himself, and when he didn’t die immediately he began having second thoughts and was able to get himself free from the noose.
Just Heartbreaking
He also met Catelynn when he was 12, and the two began dating. A few years later, she became pregnant, and they made the difficult decision to place the child for adoption so that she would have a better life than they could provide for her.
Too, Too Sad
In what many people consider to be the most heartbreaking moment on all of Teen Mom, Tyler and Catelynn both cried after their first daughter was born, and they begged nurses to take her away so they didn’t become too attached.
After Carly
In the years after being 16 and Pregnant, Catelynn and Tyler had many ups and downs. They got engaged, they got un-engaged, they nearly broke up after she lied to him about some other guy she’d been talking to. They started jobs, they talked about career goals, he went to New Orleans for a while to try to be an actor.
Enter Nova!
Eventually Cate became pregnant again with adorable little Nova, and after that, they finally got married. Things seemed to be going well for them for a while.
And Then, Depression
But as time went on, it became clear that Catelynn wasn’t doing so well. She had postpartum depression that lasted for a good long while, and even after spending several weeks at a treatment center in 2016, things were still bad enough that it seemed like maybe their marriage wouldn’t make it.
Looking Up!
Finally things started to get better though — so much better that they agreed it would be a good time to try for another baby. Catelynn quickly became pregnant last fall, but then she had a miscarriage.
Too Much Tragedy
Cate began contemplating suicide and made the choice to head back to a treatment center. She stayed there for a few weeks but left early to spend the holidays with her family. She quickly realized that was a bad choice though, so she went back to complete treatment. A few weeks after that, she went back for another six weeks to get her meds sorted and to address her childhood trauma.
Meanwhile …
While she was away, Tyler stayed home, caring for Nova and running their clothing business and pretty much falling apart.
Poor Tyler
Right around the same time Catelynn went to rehab, Butch went to rehab, too, and all the while Tyler said that he was grieving the baby they lost with the miscarriage. He started going to therapy himself because he was really struggling with everything, and it seems like he’s still struggling.
Empty
Earlier this week, Tyler tweetd this troubling message about how even though he was surrounded by his wife, daughter, and dog, he still felt empty and alone.
A Little Support
Catelynn showed him some public support, which was nice — a lot of people who saw Tyler’s tweet speculated that she could take it pretty personally.
Fighting
In response to all his concerned fans, he later tweeted that “I am really trying to fight this.” He also explained that he was trying to meditate, and that he did have an appointment with his therapist that same day.
Alone Time
Many people suggested that he consider taking some time away from himself, that he’d been caring for everyone else’s needs for so long that he needed to make time to take care of his own.
Compassion, Please?
Unfortunately, others weren’t as understanding, and several of his followers felt the need to tell him to “grow up,” which is pretty inconsiderate.
No Rehab … Kind Of
Finally, Tyler made this statement, explaining that he’s not planning on going to rehab, but instead that he’s focusing on therapy. He did say though that he was considering going on a week-long retreat, which sounds like a fantastic idea for him.
Best of Luck, Tyler!
We hope that, whatever he decides to do, he starts feeling better soon. We’ve seen him go through a whole, whole lot of hard times over the years, and it would be nice to see both Catelynn and Tyler truly happy and peaceful.