Rapper Gucci Mane has spoken out about his mental health after being diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The singer and his wife, Keyshia Ka’oir, chatted about his health during Monday’s episode of The Breakfast Club, days after he released his book, Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man. Mane revealed his diagnoses in the book, which came out October 14.
During the joint appearance, Ka’oir opened up about supporting her husband when he had episodes and how she helped him manage his symptoms, which he kept out of the public eye.
“I take his apps off his phone. First thing I do, I delete Instagram,” she explained. “I delete everything. Even if I gotta change his password, I’m changing it because I don’t need the public to know he’s having an episode.”
She continued to argue that she would control “everything at home,” barring Mane from seeing anything on X and Instagram when he has an episode. However, even before one of her husband’s episodes happens, she “catches” it.
“How you catch it is he doesn’t speak to you, he wants to be left alone, he don’t eat, he does not sleep. Text messages, there’s a period after each word,” Ka’oir explained. “And I’m like, ‘You’re going through an episode, you’re sick.’”
She said that while Mane told her nothing was wrong and tried to argue with her, she’d call him out and say, “Well, that’s not how you speak to your wife…You’re sick.” From there, Mane would “snap out” of his episode right away.
Mane then explained his behavior during his episodes, noting that he once gave away personal belongings and money.
“I gave my friends jewelry. And they knew I wasn’t well, they’d take it,” the rapper, whose real name is Radric Delantic Davis, said. “They was taking advantage.”
He noted that during the episodes, he felt like he was in a “psychosis” or a “warped world.” He also said that he’d hear “voices” in his mind tell him that people were upset at him when they weren’t.
Schizophrenia, a serious mental health condition that impacts how people feel and behave, can “result in a mix of hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking and behavior,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Those hallucinations also involve “seeing things or hearing voices that aren’t observed by others.”
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that can result in major mood swings. This includes “emotional highs, also known as mania or hypomania, and lows, also known as depression,” per Mayo Clinic.
Mane decided to begin therapy and was prescribed medication for his mental health condition, which he said worked. He also confessed that “drug use, stress, and not sleeping” are what triggered his episodes.
He also revealed that it was an episode he had in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, that urged him to get professional help.
“After that, I was like, man, I got to really just hold myself accountable and take care of my health,” he said. “I don’t ever want to have an episode again. If I have to see a therapist, if I have to take medicine.”
The “King Spine” rapper also said that his mental health was struggling when Ka’oir, whom he’s been married to since 2017, was pregnant with his son in 2020.
“I don’t want to raise a family, and then my mental health is gone. What if I have an episode I can’t come back from?” he said. “So I just started to do the work, started seeking the help.”
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
