Sorry, I'm Bipolar, Kanye West's Public Apology: legitimate or PR Stunt | The Gaslit Truth Podcast with Dr Teralyn Sell and Therapist Jenn Schmitz

Every time a celebrity mental health story breaks, the internet rushes to diagnose. Recently it was Kanye West again—an apology letter in the The Wall Street Journal and headlines claiming doctors now say he’s “not bipolar.”

On this week’s episode of the The Gaslit Truth Podcast, my co-host Dr. Teralyn Sell and I slowed the conversation down.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: bipolar disorder has no lab test. No blood test. No brain scan. Most diagnoses rely on interviews, questionnaires, and someone’s memory of their behavior over time.

And without context, a lot of normal human experiences can suddenly look like pathology.

Four productive days. Less sleep because you’re energized or creative. Big ideas and momentum. On paper, that can easily read like hypomania on tools like the Hypomania Checklist-32.

But here’s what often gets skipped: medical rule-outs.

Traumatic brain injuries, thyroid issues, vitamin deficiencies, antidepressant withdrawal, cannabis, even hormone shifts can mimic mania. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), if a medical condition explains the symptoms, the psychiatric diagnosis shouldn’t apply.

Yet I’ve watched that step get skipped again and again.

I’m not anti-treatment. I’m anti-lazy diagnosis.

Because once a bipolar label lands, people are often told their creativity, productivity, and intensity might actually be symptoms. And suddenly the most powerful parts of them get pathologized.

Mental health care should be about precision, not speed.

And if your best days were ever labeled a disorder, I think it’s worth asking a few more questions.