Amber Portwood has had her share of mental health struggles in her time with Teen Mom OG. Fans have watched her ups and downs with her Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder and how its affected each one of her relationships.
In the beginning, her mental health issues became apparent with her relationship with her daughter Leah’s father Gary. Fans were quick to call her out for her abusiveness towards him. An argument with Gary is what caused her first brush with the law. Amber was then arrested for felony drug charges and after failing to take part in her court ordered rehab, she spent nearly 2 years in prison.
Time in prison didn’t put a dent in Amber’s temper or mental health issues. After being released she began dating Andrew, and had a son with him. Amber’s mental health issues reared their ugly head again when Amber reportedly chased Andrew and their son with a machete through their home.
The footage was caught on their ring camera and was eventually leaked. Fans were of course shocked.
A photo of the door that Amber apparently hacked at with the machete to get to Andrew and her son was also leaked.
That was the final straw for many fans who are now calling for MTV to fire Amber so that she can focus on her mental health issues and get better. Many fans believe that being in the Teen Mom spot light is detrimental to Amber’s well being and recovery and makes dealing with her mental health issues more difficult.
Fans say:
TMOG has made her mental illness worse. This woman, in tears and being so honest, is suicidal. I can’t excuse her behavior. I mean shit, she chased her child’s father around with a damn machete. That is not excusable. Her anger issues, bipolar disorder and BPD are not manageable while she is a public figure. She resists long term care and rehabilitation saying “what I’m doing is working” but it is clearly not.
Even though fans have voiced their concerns, Amber continues to participate in Teen Mom OG filming. In the most current season, we see Leah, Amber’s daughter bashing Amber’s parenting skills. Clearly, Amber’s mental illness has had a huge impact on Leah too.
