The devastating truth behind Kanye’s tragic breakdown
● Distraught Kim Kardashian confirms Kanye West is suffering a major bipolar episode as divorce rumours grow ● It comes after Kanye’s worrying series of erratic tweets
● Bipolar experts say mounting pressures – which include his presidential bid – could have triggered his breakdown
After weeks of speculation over his mental wellbeing, following chaotic speeches and Twitter outbursts, Kim Kardashian last week confirmed her husband Kanye West is suffering from a “complicated and painful” bipolar disorder episode, as her marriage appeared to be hanging by a thread.
While Kim, 39 – who is reportedly “distraught and hysterical” over Kanye’s recent insults directed at her and her family – says she usually refrains from speaking on behalf of her husband, she released a heartfelt statement to her 180 million followers explaining his condition means “his words sometimes do not align with his intentions.”
UNDER PRESSURE
Clarifying that her family is “powerless” to get him help as he is an adult, she continued, “He is a brilliant but complicated person who, on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the personal loss of his mother, he has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is highlighted by his bipolar disorder.”
Her compassionate message came after a series of disturbing Twitter rants from the rapper,
43, just weeks after he shocked the world by announcing his bid to become President of the United States. Last week, he also released an album dedicated to his late mum, Donda, who tragically died in 2007 aged 58 from complications after cosmetic surgery. Then it emerged that he and Kim have been living separately, with Kanye at their ranch in Wyoming and Kim with the kids in LA, amid claims they have “been at each other’s throats” and have been negotiating a divorce for “several weeks”.
Simon Kitchen, chief executive officer of Bipolar
UK, tells Closer it’s possible
Kanye’s recent stresses have triggered his latest worrying episode. He says, “Someone going through a bipolar episode will first experience a mania – or a hyper mania – where they’re possibly quite productive and which they’re probably enjoying, but once that high wears off, they will fall into the depression phase. Everything Kanye’s got going on in his life at the moment – with the presidential campaign and the new album – is an enormous stimulation, so it’s understandable he might be being triggered.”
MENTAL HEALTH
Kanye, who revealed his bipolar disorder in 2018, raised serious concerns for his mental health after a disturbing presidential rally in South Carolina. The born-again Christian sobbed and screamed as he revealed that he’d wanted Kim – with whom he shares North, seven, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and Psalm, 14 months – to have an abortion when she was carrying North, until “God intervened”.
Days later, he posted a series of bizarre late-night tweets, taking aim at the Kardashian family by accusing them of “white supremacy”, saying his wife was trying to get him “locked up” and claiming he had been trying to divorce her for two years, suggesting it was because she had cheated on him with rapper Meek Mill, which Meek has denied.
Sadly, it’s not the first time Kanye’s mental health has caused concern. In November 2016, he was hospitalised for a “psychiatric emergency” after suffering a breakdown in the aftermath of Kim’s Paris robbery and the trauma of his mum’s death. Last year, he admitted “feeling helpless” had caused his breakdown, and opened up about his condition. He explained, “You’re just hyper-paranoid about everything… Everything’s a conspiracy and you pretty much don’t trust anyone.”
By Daisy McLure