It's not mental illness, Kanye is just an asshole...

[MrScorpio]

Sure, he’s most definitely an untreated manic-depressive with delusions of grandeur. But he’s also an attention seeking narcissist who’s trying to ride Trump’s dick as much as Trump is trying to ride Kanye’s.

If there’s one thing that these two guys are experts on, it’s making dick moves.

He knows exactly what he’s up to. He simply doesn’t care about the negative feedback, except for it being something that he believes that he can exploit for personal gain. It’s pure assholelism, that’s for sure.

Kanye’s main problem is that he has no one around him to curb his impulse control. All because everyone around him does nothing other than to exploit him. His clear lack of introspection prevents him from realizing that he has a problem. His entire modus operandi is to deny that he’d dealing with issues beyond his own control.

And those are just his problems on a personal level. There’s more...

With his untreated manic-depression and the fact that he’s in constant contact with professional grifters, it won’t be long until we’re hearing that he’s been cheated for millions of dollars by the people within his closest circles.

Fame is fleeting and he’s going out of his way to alienate the people who finance his lavish lifestyle, his fans. When you have people pining for the “old Kanye,” especially in terms of his music, it’s a clear sign that his current releases aren’t cutting it for his fans. He’s turning them away, and that’s simply with his music.

His political shenanigans and manic outbursts of utter ignorance sours him to his former fans as well, not to mention others in the music industry. He clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about at any given time and he’s definitely not receptive to even constructive criticism. He views all of it as an attack. Controversy will only get you so far if no one wants to work with you and your product sounds lackluster. One decent track out of his latest release screams disappointment.

Kanye is headed for a big fall. His association with Trump is fueling the fire for future disappointment. Merely because it’s generally known that everything that Trump touches, dies. Most of all, his mouth is writing a lot of checks that his ass won’t be able to cash. And that’s not even pointing out his clear lack of a long term strategy.

In less than ten years, in all likelihood, he’ll end up as an afterthought in both wealth and fame. Does anyone really believes that Kim K. would stick with him if that were to happen? Nope.

So, all in all, I would decline to blame his overall aberrant behavior on his mental condition. In spite of it, being mentally ill isn’t an excuse for being an asshole. He’s definitely an asshole all the way and he’s pretty much the first person to admit that.

That’s clearly a sign that he knows exactly what he’s doing, even though he’s too freakin’ ignorant to understand why it’s all wrong.

As an aside, I’ve made it clear that he’s no longer welcome on my insignificant little radio program. Although it won’t affect his bottom line one way or the other, my only motivation for not playing his music comes from my pledge to not enable his assholistic language and antics.

Take care, y’all.

[Sherman A1]

1. Precisely

and well said.

[Roy Rolling]

13. Both Brain Damaged

Like Kavanaugh, the part of their brain that controls impulses and empathy isn't showing up for work like it should.

The problem is there always, sometimes medication can supply that self-control. But it's a weakness that disqualifies a person from public service. Lacking empathy and self-control while employed as a public servant is a recipe for disaster.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Yeah, both of them are using each other...

Kanye wants another 15 minutes of fame.

Both of them are assholes.

[SummerSnow]

3. Spot on. You hit the nail on the head.

When I watched that clip of his ranting, Trump was even looking at him like omg this guy is batty.

[machoneman]

48. You could almost replace Kanye's name with Trump's in the entire write-up and....

it wouldn't be wrong at all!

[oasis]

4. Who would want to work with this guy after such a performance?

He's toast.

[Midnight Writer]

5. Yeah, I am no expert, but hasn't Kanye always been this way?

How long ago was the South Park episode in which he was mocked for his manic rants?

[watoos]

6. I thought that Kanye admitted he was bipolar?

[tblue37]

10. He now claims he was misdiagnosed, that he was just sleep deprived. nt

[BigmanPigman]

27. That statement alone tells me that he needs help.

Isn't this the same sort of statement Roseanne made? She blamed her sleep medication as well as other things for her off the rails rants even though she admits to having a mental illness.

You can be BOTH a jackass and a person with mental health issues at the same time.

[joshdawg]

7. I'd like to find a republican who is not

infected with "assholism."

just sayin'

[mountain grammy]

8. Obama said "he's a jackass"

a few years ago. Works for me

[tblue37]

9. This: "being mentally ill isn't an excuse for being an asshole." It's exactly what Pete Davidson sai

about Kanye on SNL.

[Politicub]

11. Yes. This.

He knows exactly what he is doing. It's not from an illness.

[True Blue American]

12. Wasn't Kanye

On the verge of bankruptcy just a short while ago?

Trump looked like an ignorant ass sitting there smiling while people were fighting for their lives in Florida. He is a pathetic piece of humanity.

[Gothmog]

14. Kanye needs to go back on his meds

[Cha]

29. Kanye West's comments today about African Americans and welfare were as objectively false

Link to tweet

[-Steph-]

15. It's a combination of all of it I think. Mental health issues combined with

being surrounded by yes men and exploitation for his own personal gain and attention. On some level, he also probably genuinely thinks he is the one person that can go in and just miraculously make change happen merely by bestowing upon us and the President his awe-inspiring wisdom. However, I think that clearly goes back to his narcissism and mental health issues.

It's obvious that Trump is exploiting Kanye, thinking it can get him some African American votes. Trump has clearly underestimated the black community if he thinks they're anything like his brainwashed supporters, where he can just dangle a shiny object to distract them from reality. The Republicans have consistently sought to suppress and disenfranchise people of color in this country and there's no distracting them from that. They have to live with the consequences every single day. It's actually disgusting and offensive to me that Trump and his cronies even pulled that stunt knowing that they have zero interest in doing anything at all that would even remotely elevate the lives of black people in this country.

This administration sinks to a new low every single day.

[Texin]

16. Yeah, he's an asshole. But he's an asshole with bipolar disorder.

The "delusions of grandeur" that Mr. Scorpio speaks of is not exclusively attributable to assholes. It is one of the most significant indications of escalation into a manic attack (or being in the middle of such an attack) of those affected by the type of bipolar disease that is on the mania spectrum. I know this because my stepson is bipolar and is affected with manic episodes rather than the depressive state that sometimes follows episodes of mania in those who exhibit both symptoms of the spectrum. And my stepson is not an asshole or usually one to have "delusions of grandeur". He only acts this way when he is either verging on or at the height of a manic episode. Kanye West may indeed be an asshole. Great fame and wealth can do that to people. His hero tRump is a flaming asshole (and may or may not have some sort of undiagnosed mental or personality disorder, though I'd argue to the contrary there). But Kanye, in addition to being an asshole, is also a person with a mental disease, and his type of disease will definitely exacerbate his "assholeness" when he's not medicated. And it will make him a particular target of users and cons of the ilk of his buddy, Mr. tRump , the modern P.T. Barnum, who is always looking for another of the "there's a sucker born every minute" to exploit.

[Ms. Toad]

26. Thank you.

I don't want to stigmatize people with mental health disorders. BUT this particular mental health disorder is particularly and creates or exascerbates pretty much everything we've seen in West recently.

My nephew and a close family friend both have bipolar disorder. Recognizing it in this case is not the same as blaming every gun nut's behavior on being mentally ill. It is acknowleding that a specific mental health disorder is associated with manifestations of specific character traits - precisely - those that he is displaying.

[loyalsister]

33. Maybe if "off their meds" was not a punchline

But it is. Calling someone mentally ill is a long standing way to label someone as dangerous or a target for ridicule. Only recently have we begun to realize that using stigmatized conditions as insults or vehicles for humor is problematic.
Recognizing it then attributing a truly bizarre incident to illness rather than entertaining the possibility that he showed up to the White House and didn't follow social conventions because..... he rejects them altogether? Doesn't think he should have to follow any? Doesn't see them as valid?
All some of the same objections I have heard to "political correctness." If that's how he sees it, it makes sense that he thought it would be okay or even appreciated in the Trump Whitehouse. I think he's just another Trump supporter who sees him as an everyman because he doesn't care about basic decency.

[Ms. Toad]

35. He has been diagnosed as bipolar.

His behavior is consistent with everything I know about bipolar disorder - including my first hand experience with people living with that disorder.

There is a vast difference between connecting the dots of behavior we have witnessed - and a known medical diagnosis that is consistent with that behavior - and attributing all bad behavior to mental illness.

[loyalsister]

37. Why does that matter?

He acted like a jerk. Lack of self awareness, impulsiveness, pressured speech are all symptoms. The things he said were not. Whatever drives him to say and think such things is probably more just about being a jerk.

[Ms. Toad]

38. It matters because if we had adequate health care and treatment

for people with bipolar disease, many of them would not act like jerks (and all of the other characteristics that are driven by the manic side of biplar disorder).

For example, when my gentle, gifted, funny nephew is manic, he has fantasies of hurting or killing people and enjoying it - that is what finally drove hem to treatment. When he is not manic, he is disgusted by the thought of things that seemed like fun to him when he was manic. Thank God he never got to the point of carrying out any of his fantasies.

So it matters because I believe Kanye's untreated (by his own admission) diagnosed bipolar disorder is driving much of what we saw in the oval office - and I don't believe he would behave that way if he were treated/we had adequate treatment for bipolar disorder.

Just as it is not appropriate to attribute all vile behaviro to mental illness, it is also imporant to recognize when it is likely the source of the behavior, so we don't throw people away because their disease drives them to act in a certain manner.

Here's a more concrete example. People with Tourette's sometimes blurt out very vile, racist things. We can recognize the behavior is driven by Tourette's syndrome (and recognize the person is not racist at core) OR we can say they are just a racist (and Tourette's was driving the blurtting out - but that the content was the result of inherent racsim).

[loyalsister]

42. Not sure how this is helpful

As we see even in this thread, turning people into mascots for mental health is a great set up for ridicule and demonization of mental illness. In some cases that is especially true when there is a bias against that person because of their beliefs.

[Ms. Toad]

43. Because when un/under-treated mental health conditions

Cause behavior that is otherwise reprehensible, recognizing the source of the behavior makes it more likely that the person will not be demonized for behavior they cannot control. (E.g. everyone in this thread insisting that Kanye is just a jerk, rather than a person who needs better mental health care.)

[loyalsister]

44. And yet

"Of his meds" is still a punchline. It will continue to be if people mistakenly believe that focusing on mental illness in response to behavior most people are not familiar with is somehow helpful. This is a counterproductive way to raise awareness, especially when pathologizing bad ideas diminishes the actual danger and power they can have.

[Ms. Toad]

47. There is a difference between assuming that bad behavior is due to mental illness

When there is no basis to believe the individual is mentally ill, and insisting in the face of a diagnosed mental illness, disclosed rejection of treatment, and behavior consistent with that specific illness that the behavior is unrelated to his mental health - that's he is just a jerk.

That's the difference between using tourette's syndrone as a punchline (as it has been on DU recently), and recognizing that an individual with Tourette's spewing racist comments isn't able to control that aspect of his expression.

It's really not rocket science.

[nolabear]

17. I wrote a long opposing/not opposing post on this that nobody read.

You say right away that he is mmentally ill but is also a jackass. I agree. Bipolar I is a monster, and as a retired therapist he certainly seems that way to me. But what you do when you’re in a manic state depends somewhat on your personality, your life, and what those around you encourage and enable.

But I’d bet money on the diagnosis except for one thing-I’ve never seen him off camera. If he’s like that when not in Ye mode I’d make the bet. And feel some sympathy.

[True Blue American]

30. As a Therapist

What do you think of this? Could his illness make him do this? I am seriously asking.

[link:http://

|

[nolabear]

31. I don't know. It's possible but it could be other things too.

As I said you can be bipolar AND an entitled asshole too. That screed at the WH has so many markers-things that connect together in a way but get really tangential and have “loose associations”. You can hear him use a string of words that sound alike but don’t really connect, see him mentally runnalong a thread that connects things in a way but he is going so fast he can’t make those connections fleshed out and thorough.

The Taylor Swift thing is so brief I can’t see a pattern. Of course I saw it and I know it was an early off-the-rails moment but I can’t say anything for sure.

It’s a pity. Underneath all that I think he has some real talent. Sadly he doesn’t seem able to have judgment these days.

[rocktivity]

18. Actually, Kanye is job hunting

Last edited Fri Oct 12, 2018, 12:38 PM - Edit history (2)

Between his current album not making waves, his merchandise sales plunging, and his moving to Chicago without his wife and children, he's about to lose his job as the spouse of a Krap-Trashy-an!


rocktivity

[yonder]

19. "dick moves" and "assholeism"

describes them both fine, in my view.

[Racerdog1]

20. What happens when you hang arround the KardASSians

[KayF]

21. sounds like Elvis

Kanye’s main problem is that he has no one around him to curb his impulse control. All because everyone around him does nothing other than to exploit him.

[UTUSN]

22. K&R, yup, whatever his Dx, ideology is not involved.

He could just as much pin his condition on any random subject. It's just irritating that his subject happens to be politics/ideology.

[mvd]

23. I think it's both since his thoughts aren't even..

coherent half the time. But he is as asshole who has delusions of grandeur. That makes his meltdowns worse.

[ck4829]

24. "Mental illness" in the public scene is only for white people who shoot up places anyway

[UTUSN]

25. 'nother K

[Cha]

28. Kanye West's comments today about African Americans and welfare were as objectively false

Link to tweet

Good on You, MrScorpio, Not playing Kanye's music on your radio show. Thank You!

I can't imagine KK Not being embarrassed by her husband.. but that's just me.

[BlueStater]

32. I actually take him at his word that he's going to run for office someday.

Not because I believe he actually gives a shit about politics or public service or anything like that, but because he seems to have the same personality disorder that Trump does: he's a fucked-up narcissist that will do ANYTHING to stay in the limelight.

[GoCubsGo]

34. It's both.

But, even if his mental illness gets treated, he'll still be an asshole.

[loyalsister]

45. Exactly

That's why it is a bad idea to focus on mental illness. Conflating bad ideas with behavioral symptoms does nothing to bring understanding and empathy to perceptions of mental illness.

[MountCleaners]

36. I used to be such a fan of Kanye

I really liked his earlier albums. I was so proud that he was from Chicago. But then he was silent for so long about stuff happening in Chicago and I kept hoping he'd do something.

The part of me that wants the old Kanye back ("George Bush doesn't care about black people&quot wants to think he's just being a troll to get into the White House to talk about prison reform. But then again he praised Candace Owens and is pushing the MAGA crap to much.

[rocktivity]

39. UPDATE: Kanye's Internet blackout is over

https://t.co/YDYXQ45bDL


rocktivity

[JohnnyRingo]

40. It's true I've seen a lot more Kanye since...

...he started wearing that asshole hat. I'm not a hip hop fan so I was seldom exposed to West, or any Kardashians for that matter.

I guess if he's looking for publicity, it's working.

[elocs]

41. We too casually label someone as mentally ill as a result of their aberrant behavior.

That goes for Trump as well. He is not mentally ill either, but he is an entitled, self centered, power hungry and greedy asshole and liar. Labeling him as mentally ill gives him a pass on his choosing his words, behavior, and actions.

[loyalsister]

46. AND worse

It eclipses the actual danger and destructive nature of the content within their words and actions. I think it's no accident in some cases. Like when Trump was railing about how he would have won the popular vote if not for voter fraud. People were focused on the like and how "crazy" and dumb he is. Now in person voter fraud has become something people believe happens regularly, and it has been the basis for imposing additional limits on voting rights.

[Nitram]

49. Are you in a position to determine that Kanye does not have bipolar disorder?

[ck4829]

50. Kick