Kim Kardashian West is 'Absolutely Worried' about Kanye amid breakdown but will 'Defend Him to the End'

A source tells PEOPLE that the reality star, 37, is doing her best to protect husband Kanye West since the rapper, 40, made controversial remarks on Twitter and in new interviews over the past week.

“Kanye is the most amazing person when he’s not acting like this. But when he gets manic, it’s really hard for everyone around him,” the insider says. “Kim is absolutely worried about him right now, but she will defend him publicly to the end. She’s a very loyal wife, and her tweets and everything she’s been saying is definitely very calculated to help Kanye.”

Kardashian West defended her husband in a series of tweets of her own, arguing that reports labeling him “as having mental health issues for just being himself when he has always been expressive” are “not fair.”

The mom of three — Chicago, 3 months, Saint, 2, and North, 4½ — also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week, where she brushed off her husband’s surprise return to social media.

“I didn’t even know he got his Twitter again until I started seeing tweets coming in from other people retweeting them. And I was like, ‘Wait, is this real?’ And then at night he came in and said, ‘Did you see my tweets?’ I was like, ‘Yes, I did see your tweets,’ and I followed him back,” she explained on the talk show.

A source previously told PEOPLE that despite West’s tweet storm, “For the rest of the family, things are going on normally.” A second source also confirmed to PEOPLE that nobody — including his wife — has altered their “work” schedules.

But many people close to the rapper told PEOPLE that his private behavior has also been cause for concern. According to several sources, West has cut off contact with many members of his inner circle, including his managers, lawyers and closest friends — and he’s also had multiple arguments with his mother-in-law Kris Jenner.

However, another insider said that “Kanye and Kris have never had a fight,” adding, “Just because Kanye is having a strong opinion does not mean that he is mentally ill or headed for a breakdown. It’s unfair.”

West revealed to TMZ on Tuesday that he suffered from an opioid addiction after becoming dependent on the pain medications following a liposuction procedure in 2016.

The star also told the website that shortly after his cosmetic surgery he suffered a mental breakdown and was taking medication in the wake of his subsequent hospitalization.

“I think I’m in a stronger place than I ever was after the breakdown, or I like to say, the breakthrough,” the musician, told iHeartRadio’s The Breakfast Club’s Charlamagne tha God in an interview that was also released on Tuesday.

“I’m happy it happened. I’m happy to have gone to the other side and back,” West told Charlamagne about being hospitalized. “I can’t express to you how traumatizing that moment is [when your friends and family leave the hospital] and then you wake up drugged the f— out.”

When asked if he’s currently on medications, the rapper said, “Most definitely.”

“It’s an imperfect solution because it calmed me down. But there’s a lot of ways to calm down. Let ‘Ye be ‘Ye,” continued West, who added that has yet to seek help from a therapist.