Kate Gosselin calls son Collin ‘a very troubled young man’ in response to his comments

Kate Gosselin says she’s been “left with no choice” but to speak out after certain family members, including her estranged 19-year-old son Collin Gosselin, spoke to VICE TV alleging mistreatment by her.

In a July 21 post on her Instagram page, Kate Gosselin shared her take on her son’s mental state, maintaining that he had received “multiple psychiatric diagnoses” and had at times been “unpredictable and violent.”

Kate Gosselin’s claims are a response to a feud sparked by the first episode of VICE TV’s “Dark Side of the 2000s.” In the episode, her ex-husband Jon Gosselin and two of her children, Collin and Hannah Gosselin, criticized her behavior during their time as a family starring in the reality television series "Jon & Kate Plus 8." Collin Gosselin also spoke about being institutionalized at a young age.

“I want to think that she needed someone to take out her anger and frustration on, and it was just kind of me. I was in the way and I was there. So she chose me,” Collin Gosselin said in the episode about his mother. He previously told Entertainment Tonight that he was institutionalized at age 12.

In Kate Gosselin's Instagram post on July 21, she said:

“I have never wanted to have to do this, but I feel I have been backed into a corner and left with no choice. Although it saddens me to do so, I need to speak out now,” the mother to eight children began her post.

“My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years. For the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility following years of outpatient treatment which proved insufficient for his needs,” the caption continued. “The decision to admit him was made by emergency room doctors following one of his many attacks/outbursts — this one involving his use of a weapon.”

“Fast forward to the present day, and following Jon’s removal of Collin from treatment, my son’s unpredictable and violent behavior has sadly continued regularly towards Jon, Hannah and others around him,” she added.

“Collin’s distorted perception of reality is one of the many issues that he has always struggled with,” she continued. “As many people who have family members grappling with mental health issues can attest, it is rarely and sadly surprising when complete fabrications occur, and this is just another heartbreaking facet of this fight. All parent-child relationships are complex, but when mental illness is involved, it is incredibly complicated and painful, let alone easy for others on the outside to understand.”

“All measures that were taken in our home were at the explicit recommendation of his pediatric psychiatrist and/or his team of specialists and were put into place to safeguard every member of our family, our friends as well as our family pets,” the caption added. “Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help,” she continued. “His brothers and sisters and I have not been directly involved in his life due to his history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies towards us. What his sister Mady posted on social media recently is completely accurate and I deeply appreciate her bravery in doing so.”

“This is all I have to say on the matter and I will not be discussing this subject any further at this time,” Kate Gosselin concluded.

Kate Gosselin’s statement comes on the same day that her daughter Mady Gosselin — the second oldest of the eight Gosselin children — shared an Instagram story reacting to the VICE episode.

“btw I’m not the authority on what trauma others have experienced, but I am the authority on what I have experienced (and I’ve reluctantly shared that with you today),” she said. “To those of you saying my brother was a child who experienced trauma and so I must swiftly forgive and forget, please remember that I was a child too. I have empathy for him and what he’s been through, but that doesn’t erase the trauma I’ve suffered at his hands.”

TODAY.com reached out to Jon and Collin Gosselin for comment regarding Kate Gosselin's post but did not hear back.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com