Kim Kardashian opens up on Kanye's struggle with bipolar disorder
Kim Kardashian West on Wednesday addressed growing concerns over her husband, rap star Kanye West's mental health, asking fans and media to show compassion and empathy toward their family. Kanye suffers from bipolar disorder. He first revealed his diagnosis in 2018. Kim's statement came shortly after a series of erratic public and online outbursts from the 43-year-old artist. Here's more on this.
Kanye, who has declared himself a 2020 president hopeful, gave a chaotic campaign speech at Charleston, South Carolina, where he revealed he and Kim were close to aborting their first child, North (7), and also made problematic comments about anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman. Shortly after that, he posted and later deleted a bizarre Twitter rant, where he talked about trying to divorce Kim (39).
Posting a lengthy statement on Instagram Stories, Kim said, "As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder," terming the illness "incredibly complicated and painful." She revealed she has not publicly spoken about it before as she is quite protective of her four children and Kanye's right to privacy, adding she was compelled to speak now because of the rampant stigma around mental health.
"People who are unaware or far removed from this experience (of mental illness) can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try," Kim added in her statement.
Kim called Kanye a brilliant but complicated person, who has to deal with the "pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder." She added she understood that, as a public figure, Kanye's words were subject to criticism and could evoke "strong opinions and emotions." "His words sometimes do not align with his intentions," the reality television personality and entrepreneur noted.
"Living with bipolar disorder does not diminish his dreams and his creative ideas, no matter how big or unobtainable they may feel to some. That is part of his genius and as we have all witnessed, many of his big dreams have come true," she added. Concluding her statement, Kim requested fans and media to show compassion and empathy toward their family.
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition characterized by extreme mood swings that could range from episodes of manic highs and depressive lows. The exact underlying reason remains unknown. However, some experts attribute it to severe emotional distress, as well as genetic and chemical factors.
