Has Kanye Lost It? A Yes/No Approach

By Patrick Cleveland, M.A., L.M.F.T.

            Well, one must first define what it means to ‘lose it’ or ‘go crazy.’ If one defines that as speaking one’s mind consistently without a filter with ideas that go against what the majority of your own ethnicity tend to believe then yes, Kanye has definitely lost it. The majority of African-Americans are democrats and here he is promoting republican views. He must be crazy right? No. Once again it depends on how you define that. He is not crazy for being black and espousing republican views. Colin Powell is a republican and he isn’t crazy; neither is Alveda King or Michael Steele.

            Has Kanye been infected with Trump’s incessant ego worship to the point that his own political views have been swayed? Maybe. Is Kanye still upset Obama called him ‘stupid’ and is therefore looking for a new leader out of spite? Maybe. I don’t know because I don’t know the history of Kanye’s political views and what has led him to them.

What’s more important here isn’t the fact that a black man is promoting republican views but that there is a black man who is behaving in ways most members of society don’t like  and is saying things many people in his own ethnic group don’t like. It is common group behavior to label people as crazy or sick when they go against the group. Families will shame, corporations will terminate, and religions will shun people who don’t participate in the group ideology. They also call these dissenters all sorts of pathological labels and demeaning names.

Now let’s clear things up a bit. Kanye has admitted that he suffers from bi-polar disorder. On his recent album cover he even wrote, “I hate being bi-poloar, it’s aweseome”, which perfectly exemplifies the rapid yin yang thinking indicative of someone with bi-polar disorder. Was he showing symptoms of bi-polar in his most recent TV appearances? As a psychotherapist I would have to say yes. He has symptoms of what mental status exams would list as rapid speech, flight of ideas, and tangential/loose associations. When someone is in a manic state they sometimes speak this way. They go on and on really fast with all of these elaborate ideas that are very loosely connected and you can’t tell how what they said in minute one connects to what they’re saying in minute five. They’re just on a flight of ideas that make sense to them while only making minimal sense to others. Another symptom of bi-polar disorder that can occur during a manic episode is delusions of grandeur. In this symptom the person may think they have special gifts and must complete a huge mission at all costs. The confusing part here is that Kanye is a musical genius with special gifts. However, some evidence of this is shown when he tells Trump, “you’re on your hero’s journey!” The hero is a powerful archetype in Jungian psychology and mythological studies. It was further made famous in the book called A Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Kanye thinks he is on his own hero’s journey and glorifies Trump for being a winner on his journey to the point where he really believes he’s really going to do ‘great’ things. Will Trump’s policies lead to less black lives lost in Chicago in four years than Obama’s? I doubt it, but that remains to be seen.

I am not a Trump supporter by any means. I have been a long time fan of Kanye's music, and was surprised to hear his political views and the reasons for them. Perhaps Kanye really believes in the ideology of his hero. Perhaps he is blinded by delusions of grandeur and sees the good in winning no matter what the winner thinks, say, or has done. It’s hard to tell, but Kanye says he claims to hold these views for the various reasons he has stated so all we can do is take him at his word at this point. To conclude, Kanye is not crazy for being black and holding republican views. However, the way he went about promoting them would lead some people to believe he is exhibiting symptoms of bi-polar disorder which some say defines you as mentally ill and others call a gift. What is considered crazy or not crazy, sane or insane, mentally ill or well, is a whole other debate within the mental health community we shall save for another time.

For more info about me, my practice, and mental health services visit:

www.patrickcleveland.com

                     
                     

Nietzsche, Robin Williams, and A Spark of Madness

"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”- Nietzsche 

"You are only given a spark of madness. You Mustn't Lose it" - Robin Williams

Depression and the varieties of madness are real and many people would rather suffer quietly than deal with the mental health stigma of seeking help. If you know someone who is suffering from depression or a mental health issue, reach out to them and help them in a way that they need it most. It could be the kindest and most life-saving act you ever do. When genius and madness collide the result can be brilliant art or philosophy as with the cases of both Nietzsche and the late great Robin Williams. If someone had reached out to them maybe they could have transcended the reasons for their madness and their lives wouldn't have ended so tragically. Although, they both suffered from depression, they both used their ‘spark of madness’ to ‘turn muck into gold’ as Nietzsche once said, and blessed us with extraordinary work and lived rich and productive lives proving that life is more about the ride and how one lives rather than how one dies.

Psychoanalytic Therapy and The Right to be Heard

by Patrick Cleveland M.A.

    

     Many of the people I see in therapy initially feel as though their problems aren’t worth speaking about or feel guilty that they shouldn’t be ‘complaining.’ Many of these people were raised by parents who were too consumed with their own lives, issues, or addictions to pay them any mind and hence gave them both overt and covert messages to keep quiet and not complain. This is the perfect recipe for repression. This is actually teaching repression as a means of navigating ones emotions. These are the parents who say things like, “Don’t cry”, “Man up”, or “I don’t want to hear it,” and ignorantly wonder why their children have emotional problems currently or trouble following through with goals later in life despite having provided all material needs for them as they grew up . The fact is that children and people need to be loved and heard. Everybody has a right to tell their story and share their experience to someone willing to listen. We don’t have the right to be heard by everyone, because we didn’t choose our parents and thus we cannot control them or anyone else. We may wish for them to hear us and love us, but ultimately we cannot make them do so. They may not even be capable of doing so due to their own issues.
     In accordance with the tradition of psychoanalytic therapy, I view psychotherapy as a safe time and space for you to share your experience and tell your story. It is a place for you to talk about whatever you like and express yourself however you want. In that regard, it can also be a time to unlearn the rules and demands your parents placed upon you to “be quiet.” It is a place to share the emotions and thoughts regarding your experience that you’ve long held in and make meaning out of them. It is a space to say what was once regarded as unsayable.
     There are many false notions about what is ‘strong’ in society. Many people think that crying is weak and not showing emotion is strong. While it is true that we need to maintain some sense of composure and self-cohesiveness in order to get through day to day life, pay the bills, and survive, I think there is a great strength and courage to simply allow yourself to feel. To allow yourself to feel whatever arises. To breakdown, scream, cry, yell, or do whatever your heart intends to express yourself and release your emotions. Holding things in and repressing emotions leads to mental health issues. That is a very basic fact that Freud discovered by listening to his patients in the early days of psychoanalysis. Just think of what a bold yet simple move that was. He was first physician to ever entertain and put into place the idea that simply speaking and being listened to can be healing. While I’m sure that since the birth of language people have come to know that telling their problems to a friend or relative made them feel better, it was Freud who took the further step of creating the time and space of therapeutic hour to solely focus on listening to the patient’s speech as a curative act. Therapy is like an archaeological excavation of the mind, an uncovering, and an expressive space for one to tell and learn about all the unique mysteries of their psyche.
     Recently, one of my clients who had been struggling with a resistance to fully share her experience for many weeks finally revealed that she was sexually molested by her father and that she never told her mother or anyone out of the fear of not being heard and believed. Her mother never really listened to her or attended to her needs while she was growing up since she was always too busy working and drinking. As a result, my client was always afraid to tell her mother anything that would be the slightest inconvenience out of a fear of being beaten or ignored, and so she held in her experience of being sexually abused for all these years. When I asked her why she didn’t tell her mother, she responded by saying her mother had been through the same thing and that nobody listened to her either. I pointed out how in her immediate response to my question she justified her mother’s behavior of ignoring her and created some illusory right her mother possessed to not listen to her because she had gone through something similar. I highlighted out how she didn’t respond from her own feelings and experience but instead immediately empathized with her mothers. I stressed how this pattern of disavowing and disregarding her own experience and feelings is a major factor in understanding why she has such trouble expressing and coping with any emotion besides anger in the present. Anger is the only emotion she ever got attention for precisely because anger leads to aggressive acts that demand attention and was thus perceived of as strength in her family. After processing these insights, she began to speak from her own experience about the feelings of shame and guilt she still carries regarding the sexual abuse she experienced as a child. I commended her for speaking and owning her feelings and thoughts regarding her experience and asked what it was like to share it. She said it felt strange and awkward to finally speak it, but also tremendously relieving that she finally told someone. I thanked her for trusting me to share her experience with, emphasized its worth, and told her that in therapy she has a right to be heard.

Patrick Cleveland MFTI
www.patrickcleveland.com