Kanye West attends the Marni fashion show during the Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025, in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)
New York, US (EPICSTORIAN) – Kanye West has spoken about his health, saying he was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and now believes he is autistic.
On The Download podcast with Justin Laboy, West—who legally changed his name to Ye—shared how his understanding of himself has shifted over time.
“I went to this doctor… My wife took me because she felt my personality didn’t match bipolar disorder,” he said. “I’ve come to find that it’s really a case of autism.”
The realization, he said, has given him clarity about his behavior and how he approaches creativity.
“Autism takes you to a Rain Man thing,” he explained, referring to the 1988 film about a man with savant syndrome. “When people tell you not to do something, you fixate on it. That’s my problem.”
The same tendency, he said, influences his music.
“When fans tell me to make my album a certain way, I do the opposite,” he added.
Referencing his 2007 song Can’t Tell Me Nothing, he spoke about how his independence makes it hard for others to influence him.
“It’s difficult for people around me because I’m a grown man—you can’t control my bank account, you can’t control what I say on Twitter,” he said.
Questioning a Past Diagnosis
West has previously talked about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and experiencing an involuntary psychiatric hold. In a 2019 interview with David Letterman, he discussed the stigma around mental health and the need to challenge it.
“People are allowed to say anything about it and discriminate in any way,” he said at the time.
The National Institute of Mental Health describes autism spectrum disorder as a neurological condition affecting communication, learning, and behavior. It is not classified as a mental health disorder and can be diagnosed at any stage of life.
Since learning of his autism diagnosis, West said he has stopped taking medication prescribed for bipolar disorder.
“I haven’t taken the medication since I found out bipolar wasn’t the right diagnosis,” he shared. “It’s about finding something that doesn’t block creativity. That’s what I bring to the world—it’s worth the ramp-up, as long as y’all get the creativity.”
