Everything Kanye West Has Said About His Bipolar Diagnosis in 7 Clicks

After dropping his solo album YE, Kanye West had a sit-down interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! where he opened up about his mental health and the importance of speaking about it. His music project's artwork featured the words, "I hate being bipolar it's awesome."

Jimmy Kimmel that he felt like being bipolar became part of what made West brilliant.

"Yeah. I think that's another one of those things where people are like, 'How are you gonna talk about it?'" the award-winning singer said. "It's not an opposite. It's not 'I hate being bipolar, it's awesome.' It's actually, it drives more of how you really feel. It doesn't do an opposite thing."

West spoke in one of the episodes of David Letterman's show on Netflix, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, and answered the host's question about a brain mechanism "malfunctioning or taking a break" when diagnosed with a mental health issue.

The "I Wonder" rapper initially said he could not explain it because he is not a doctor, but he soon shared what he felt like since starting his battle with the illness.

"I can just tell you what I'm feeling at the time, and I feel a heightened connection with the universe when I'm ramping up," he said, calling it a health issue. "This — it's like a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle. And if someone has a sprained ankle, you're not going to push on him more. With us, once our brain gets to a point of spraining, people do everything to make it worse."

In his Forbes interview, he explained the word "crazy" would not be used loosely in the future to call out people with bipolar disorder.

"Understand that this is actually a condition that people can end up in, be born into, driven into and go in and out," he continued. "And there's a lot of people that have been called that 'C' word that have ended up on this cover."

West looked back at the time he was dating Amber Rose when he suddenly had a run-in with a paparazzi, whom he slammed afterward. The incident led him to undergo anger management sessions.

"I'm sitting there with Amber Rose at the anger management situation, and the anger management coach just keeps on hitting on Amber, and then giving me some medication," West said.

Before the release of Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy on Netflix, the "Flashing Lights" singer spoke candidly about his struggles as he battled his own demons. At that time, he appeared in the headlines due to his questionable and unreasonable behavior — from calling out Billie Eilish to having social media meltdowns after his split from Kim Kardashian.

"Have you guys ever been, like, locked up in handcuffs and put into a hospital because your brain was too big for your skull?" he said.

West also looked back at the time he started taking medications that led him to gain 35 pounds, but he still found himself in a downward spiral.

After sharing his bipolar disorder experience for years since he was diagnosed in 2016, West claimed on X that he was misdiagnosed "mentally."

"What should be obvious by now is that I was raised to stand for my truth regardless of the consequences," he wrote. "So I will say this again I was mentally misdiagnosed and nearly drugged out of my mind to make me a manageable well behaved celebrity."

On Wednesday, October 18, West and Elon Musk's text messages in which the "Jesus Is King" rapper claimed he does not have bipolar disorder were posted on Instagram.

The post, shared by West's close friend Ian Conor, revealed that the 46-year-old "Donda" rapper told Musk he is not bipolar. Instead, the 2002 car accident reportedly left him with "signs of autism."

"When are we going to speak. You owe me nothing," West asked the Space X mogul. "You never have to speak to me again But if we do speak The nature of the relationship has to change. I'm not bipolar I have signs of autism from my car accident."

West reportedly instructed Connor to reveal the text messages to the public, and the conversation was shared the following day.