Want to touch on the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian situation. Two mega stars.
This podcast is about those of us living with people with mental illness and how we have a lot of shit to deal with too.
Obviously, Kanye has been having episodes of unusual behavior even for him.
Many of us are sitting back with that EEECK kind of look on our face. Like dude … really?!
And, it’s sad to see. It’s sad because I know the pain he’s causing his family.
Last week, Kim put out a lengthy statement on social media asking for "compassion and empathy" for her family and touching on her husband's mental health issues, including his bipolar disorder.
And, if you have lived with someone or you’re still living with them that has bipolar, addicted to drugs, or something similar … you know the pain he’s causing too.
This is what happens when they don’t take their medication, over take it or don’t take it all.
Kim stated – His condition, "Does not diminish or invalidate 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 dreams have come true."
She continued , "We as a society talk about giving grace to the issue of mental health as a whole, however we should also give it to the individuals who are living with it in times when they need it the most."
In a different statement – ***And, this is the one that got to my heart!*** She said – “I’ve never spoken publicly about how this has affected us at home because I am very protective of our children and Kanye’s right to privacy when it comes to his health.
She is just like the rest of us!
None of us want to talk about what we’re experiencing or how their episodes affect us because we don’t want to hurt the person who’s already suffering enough mental anguish because we fear we’re going to cause them even more. Or, we don’t want to rock the boat because it will cause even bigger waves. They might go off the deep end and really cause a huge storm.
In another statement and I don’t have this one verbatim … Kim said, “Our hand are tied in what we can do for Kanye or she might have said about him."
She’s right!
Many of you already know that I grew up with a mother who suffered from bipolar.
My God ...that woman would have episodes which I talk about in this episode. You can’t force anyone to do anything unless they’re a threat. And, that’s probably what Kim is dealing with. We don’t know the half of it.
We also have to give grace to those of us who love and live with those people. It’s not easy.
I reached out to the National Alliance on Mental Illness to see if they wanted to talk on the topic, but instead they sent me a statement.
It states - “Being the loved one of a person with a mental illness can be extremely challenging. On top of dealing with a complex health condition, they often face judgement, shame and discrimination. We commend Kim Kardashian for her openness about the complexity and difficulty of her position and of the many, many more like her. We at NAMI support her during this trying time and encourage those in her and her family’s situation to seek support for themselves and their loved ones. That can include programs like the evidence-based NAMI Family-to-Family course. You are not alone.”
