Kanye West’s Opening Up About His Bipolar Disorder In Candid Interview Paves Way For New Conversations About Mental Health

Kanye West is no stranger to controversy – or to generating conversation. His latest appearance, though, looks set to open new discussions about an issue which affects us all. Confirming his diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2018 – after last summer’s album Ye featured ‘I hate being bipolar. It’s awesome’ on the cover, and a period of hospitalisation in 2016 for temporary psychosis brought on by ‘sleep deprivation’ – West spoke at length about his experience of mental illness on David Letterman’s ‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction’, premiering on Netflix May 31st.

Comparing bipolar disorder to a "strained brain", Kanye explained his experience of a typical "episode": “Everyone — this is my experience, other people have different experiences — everyone now is an actor. Everything’s a conspiracy. You feel the government is putting chips in your head. You feel you’re being recorded. You feel all these things. You have this moment [where] you feel everyone wants to kill you. You pretty much don’t trust anyone.” West went on to infer his bipolar disorder might have been the cause of past controversies – “If you don’t take medication every day to keep you at a certain state […] you start acting erratic, as TMZ would put it”, referencing his much-maligned interview with TMZ in May last year where he said that "slavery is a choice".

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West spoke about the wide-ranging effects of mental health problems, highlighting their prevalence in the general population and the impact of modern stresses on us all: “We're all dealing with mental health”, said Kanye. “We're, like, completely bullied by the media, both celebrities and the masses, to think certain things and have group thought. Like, 'Oh yeah, damn right we're going crazy'." Representation – the power of seeing your own struggles shared by personalities in the public eye – is invaluable. As Kanye noted in interview, he’s “the most famous person with [bipolar disorder]”: much misunderstood, highly stigmatised, the condition is leant new light and understanding by West’s candour. Bipolar UK estimates that as much as 5% of the population is on the ‘bipolar spectrum’ – if you don’t suffer personally, then, you certainly know someone who does (whether they’re open about it or not.) Thanks to Kanye, the world at large is joining a conversation previously held behind closed doors. After all, the best way to understand something is to see it – Letterman’s guest might have needed no introduction, but he gave us one to something much more than his music career.