Contained in the Secret Struggle That Nearly Broke Gucci Mane

Behind the diamond chains and chart-topping hits, Gucci Mane was fighting a battle few knew about, one that just about broke him.

The rapper has revealed his long-secret struggle with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, shedding light on years of chaos, confusion, and courage.

Now, with the love of his wife, Keyshia Ka’oir, he’s telling the story on his own terms.

Gucci Mane has never shied away from his past, but his recent memoir, “Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man,” marks his most personal revelation yet.

For the primary time, the Atlanta rapper opened up about being diagnosed with each schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, two conditions that shaped much of his turbulent journey through fame, addiction, and redemption.

During an emotional interview with “The Breakfast Club” on October 20, Gucci and his wife, Keyshia Ka’oir, reflected on the dark days that preceded his healing.

Ka’oir, 40, explained how she learned to acknowledge when an episode was coming on.

“I even have a system,” she said per PEOPLE. “I take his apps off his phone. Very first thing I do, I delete Instagram. I delete every little thing. Even when I gotta change his password, I’m changing it because I don’t need the general public to know he’s having an episode.”

She added, “I control that. You’re not occurring Instagram, you’re not occurring Twitter, it’s deleted. I control every little thing at home. Now, before the episodes come, I catch it. That’s why he hasn’t had one other one. The way you catch it’s he doesn’t speak to you, he desires to be left alone, he don’t eat, he does stay awake. Text messages, there’s a period after each word.”

For Gucci, those episodes felt like entering into one other dimension. He explained that he would feel like he was in a “psychosis” or a “warped world” and heard voices inside, which made him feel people were against him.

When those moments struck, Ka’oir shifted into what she called “mother mode.”

She took control, not only of the situation, but of the house, the atmosphere, and the emotional space Gucci Mane needed to survive.

“It was really, really bad,” she recalled. “It’s really sad since you’re seeing someone you don’t know. He would say things that were so mean and disrespectful, but I needed to remind myself that I’m not talking to Gucci.”

Her patience and discipline became his lifeline.

Ka’oir learned that compassion sometimes meant setting boundaries, managing his schedule, deleting social media, and protecting his peace from public scrutiny.

Gucci Mane’s journey toward healing hit an important turning point in 2020.

The world was deep within the COVID-19 pandemic, and isolation magnified his struggles. That 12 months, he suffered a mental health episode that forced him to confront his condition head-on.

“After that, I used to be like, man, I got to essentially just hold myself accountable and care for my health,” he said. “I don’t ever wish to have an episode again. If I even have to see a therapist, if I even have to take medicine… I kinda threw the towel in, like, do what I want to do to improve.”

On the time, Ka’oir was pregnant with their son, and Gucci felt the load of responsibility pressing harder than ever.

“I don’t need to lift a family, after which my mental health is gone. What if I even have an episode I am unable to come back from?” he said. “So I just began to do the work, began searching for the assistance.”

For somebody who built his legacy on toughness, admitting vulnerability wasn’t easy. Nonetheless, Gucci knew that silence would only make things worse. He began therapy, took prescribed medication, and started identifying his triggers, with substance use and stress being the most important culprits.

He admitted, “You bought to do the work yourself if you need to really improve. People can want it for you, but you continue to got to want it greater than they do.”

His honesty about schizophrenia, a condition that affects how people perceive reality, has opened a brand new conversation in hip-hop, where mental illness is commonly misunderstood or dismissed.

Based on the Mayo Clinic, schizophrenia could cause hallucinations, delusions, and disordered pondering that make day by day life difficult.

Combined with bipolar disorder, which brings extreme mood swings between mania and depression, the struggle becomes much more complex.