Gucci Mane & wife Keyshia Ka’oir open up about managing his mental health episodes

In his new memoir and album “Episodes,” Gucci Mane opens up about living with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.

While fans came to know Gucci Mane as the hitmaking trap pioneer, behind the mic, Radric Delantic Davis was quietly navigating a mental health crisis. In his new memoir “Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man,” the rapper opens up about living with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia, and the work it’s taken to stay grounded.

During a recent sit-down with “The Breakfast Club,” Gucci and his wife, Keyshia Ka’oir, shared how they’ve managed his mental health over the years.

“I experienced him going through episodes before we were married, and I was like, ‘Man, somebody got to help this guy,’” Ka’oir recalled. “It’s really sad because you’re seeing someone you don’t know. They’re saying things to you that are so disrespectful, so mean, and you have to be just like, ‘but I’m not talking to Gucci. Who is this person?’”

Ka’oir said she felt called to stay by his side, even when it wasn’t easy.

“I felt like if I left, he wouldn’t have been the same. He needed someone to help him. And then when we were supposed to get married, someone said to me, ‘You know, you’re going to have to deal with this through your marriage, right?’ And I’m like, I’m cool with it. I’m going to fix him,” she continued. “Him being Gucci man without me, no one helped him because he’s the artist. No one is going to say, ‘Gucci, you’re not well. Gucci, you need medicine.’ They just keep on giving him the weed, giving him the drugs, and he keeps on keeping on. So that was the problem. No one took the time to like, ‘Damn dog, something is really wrong with you.’”

And years later, his wife of eight years is a pillar in his mental health care, as he navigated episodes that he often wouldn’t remember. 

“You’re not in your mind. You’re kind of like in a warped world, it’s almost like it’s a psychosis,” Gucci Mane shared, trying to describe what an episode feels like. “It’s not…and you’re hearing voices too.” 

Sometimes describing it as madness in the book the rapper explains how: “Madness is like a very evil side of me. It’s very no compassion, no empathy, like void of just of good. It’s like a empty eyes, soulless. I say the most meanest things,” he shared noting how embarrassed he would be by some of his comments. “Like I can’t even believe I be saying stuff. I [didn’t] even think I know how to curse and say stuff like that. I be going so deep into the dungeon. I’m so embarrassed about what I said afterwards. Like that’s that’s where the madness like it’s bad.”

The episodes were fueled by anger and impulsivity, according to the rapper. Gucci recalled giving away jewelry and money while in manic states, often to friends who knew something was wrong.

“I would give my friends jewelry, and they knew I wasn’t well and they’d take it. They’d take advantage. I felt like, ‘Damn. They know something was going on with me, but they’ll take it.’ So, like when I got out of jail, I cut off all my friends, my old friends. I’m like, damn, they were taking advantage,” he added. 

To manage these episodes, Ka’or explains that she had to create a strict and stern system to protect her husband and his brand. 

“I take apps off his phone. First thing I do, I delete Instagram. I delete everything. Even if I got to change his password, I’m changing it because I don’t need the public to know he’s having an episode,” she explained. “You realize you’d never know about any other episode since September 13th because I control that. You’re not going on Instagram, you’re not going on Twitter, it’s deleted. I just control everything at home.”

She continued, “And now, before the episodes come, I catch it. So that’s why he hasn’t had another one. And how you catch that is he doesn’t speak to you. He wants to be left alone. He don’t eat. He does not sleep. Text messages. There’s a period after each word.”

Despite the unpredictability of his episodes, which he says could be triggered by anything from drug use, sleep deprivation, stress, and even anesthesia, Gucci says he has not had an episode since he and Ka’oir had their first son together, Ice, in 2020 and their daughter Iceland in 2023. 

“Those deep episodes won’t happen ever again. We’re in 2025. So the last one was 5 years ago. He had a mild one coming maybe two years ago, and I caught it. So now I catch them before they come,” Ka’oir explained. 

Fatherhood, Gucci adds, has kept him steady.

“What scared me was, I cannot ever let my kids see me like that, and I can never not be on point to be needed to handle the business of raising the baby. Like I get them up for school every day. I can’t be in the hospital. My little boy can’t even stand a day without me. He be like, ‘Dad, I’ll miss you when I leave.’ So, I just want to be on point for my kids.”