In the past year, Kanye West has spoken publicly and very candidly about his mental health. In June of 2018, he revealed that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but then said that it was actually a misdiagnosis and he was suffering from sleep deprivation.
Now, in a new clip of the Netflix show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, West clearly describes what it feels like to be inside of his head during a bipolar episode. Letterman asks him to define the physiological mechanism that's taking place when his brain is "malfunctioning or taking a break." Kanye replies: "I feel a heightened connection with the universe when I'm ramping up," he tells Letterman in the clip.
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"It is a health issue; this is like a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle," West continues, gesturing to his forehead. "If someone has a sprained ankle, you're not going to push on him more. With us, once our brain gets to the point of spraining, people do everything to make it worse."
While we don't know the current status of West's mental health diagnoses, other clips from the interview feature West explaining his bipolar episodes. "When you're bipolar, you have a potential to ramp up and you can take it to a point where you start acting erratic, as TMZ would put it," he says in a trailer. Indeed, people with bipolar disorder may experience changes in their mood, energy, and activity levels, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). During these periods, people may toggle drastically up and down between feeling manic, depressive, or both.
Of course, West isn't alone: Studies suggest that an estimated 4.4% of adults in the United States have experienced bipolar disorder at some time in their lives, although it can take years to diagnose. Unfortunately, people with bipolar disorder often face lots of societal stigma, which West has actually touched up on in some of his most recent music.
If the clip and trailer for My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman are any indication, West will go into further detail about all of these facets of his mental health, and more. The full season and interview will air on Netflix on May 31.