Tyler Christopher has graced television screens since 1996 and has been brought into countless living rooms over the years thanks to his long-term soap opera success. This made the news of his death at age 50 on Oct. 31, 2023 especially tragic.
“Tyler was a truly talented individual that lit up the screen in every scene he performed and relished bringing joy to his loyal fans through his acting,” said General Hospital costar Maurice Benard in an Instagram post. “Tyler was an advocate for better mental health and substance use treatment who openly spoke about his struggles with bipolar depression and alcohol.”
Naturally this has led fans of Christopher’s work to wonder whether these issues contribute to his untimely passing or was something else was involved.
Do we know the cause of Tyler Christopher’s death?
At the time of this writing, Christopher’s representative has not released an official cause of death, but according to Benard’s Instagram post, Christopher passed away following a cardiac event in his San Diego apartment. While some people have used his death to push COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories similar to when Matthew Perry passed away, there is no evidence to support a vaccine being the cause of death.
The likelier possibility is that Christopher’s previous issues with alcohol led to the heart issues, resulting in his death. Johns Hopkins Medicine states that alcohol abuse can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, and even heart failure. As Benard pointed out, Christopher was very open about his issues with alcohol abuse, even writing a full story about it for Readers Digest.
“My addiction to alcohol contributed to losing my jobs on General Hospital and Days of Our Lives—no one else is to blame. I suffered from delirium tremens, the most severe form of alcohol withdrawal, and almost died after falling and hitting my head on a bathtub. I spent my recovery living with a family member in Ohio.”
Christopher also discussed how the isolation he faced during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic led him to “fall back into some similar habits,” which “allowed the mania associated with [his] bipolar disorder to come into full effect.”
While we cannot know for certain what exactly caused the cardiac issue he faced, we can all hope that his remaining family members find peace after his tragic passing.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, please call SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889.