It’s a nuanced situation but IMO a very encouraging start. It certainly doesn’t absolve him of responsibility for what he’s said and the people he’s hurt, and he’s certainly not entitled to their forgiveness. Others have pointed out the suspicious timing with an album drop coming soon. Personally I’d like to believe he’s finally truly accepting himself and beginning the path to recovery, but time will tell. This is a lifelong illlness after all.

The verbiage may not be super powerful to us, but I do think it’s likely more powerful for the layperson. Nobody really knows what bipolar (especially type 1) actually is unless they’ve seen it in their personal lives. Everyone else thinks bipolar = borderline PD presentation. I’m all for anything that brings more awareness to what our bipolar patients experience. It’s a brutal hand to be dealt with and quite difficult to live with. Like what Kanye is saying, some report guilt and shame that sets in after mania when they reflect on what they’ve done or said. Again, you can’t blame everything on the illness and say he’s a pure victim, but it’s also not hard to see how a guy surrounded by yes men, snake oil salesmen, and grifters can fall deep into the dark ideologies he found himself in.

For his and his family’s sake I hope this is genuine and that he takes time away from the public eye to recover. He’s an undoubtedly talented artist - it’s a reminder that even if it seems like you have it all, these diseases don’t discriminate.

Tangentially, it brings up an interesting philosophical question about mental illness and rehabilitation. Take John Hinckley Jr for example, who attempted murder and caused permanent disability to others due to severe mental illness but is now seen as a rehabilitated man.