Gucci Mane is opening up about his mental health journey in a new interview with ABC News’ Nightline.
Nearly a year after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, Guwop told ABC’s Byron Pitts about how his life was turned upside down by his mental health episodes.
“The episode is a brief daze, up to a week, to a month, of me not really thinking rational, hearing voices and not being myself, and at the same time doing things that are super irresponsible,” Gucci said. “It’s a total loss of control. It starts building like a snowball.”
The Atlanta rapper first revealed his diagnoses in his 2025 memoir, Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man. The book detailed how he struggled with both his mental health and addiction.
Wop’s wife, Keyshia Ka’oir, also shared her insights with Nightline, saying that he had “different personalities” during his episodes, including one similar to Friday The 13th villain, Jason Voorhees.
In addition to his diagnoses, Gucci also opened up on getting the infamous ice cream tattoo on his face in 2011. “I really felt numb, and I kept getting tattoos to try to feel something,” he confirmed. “I don’t know if I wanted to get a feeling or a reaction out of myself to drive me out of something, but it just got more and more extreme and led to the ice cream tattoo.”
In hindsight, Gucci says he does not regret the tat, calling it “a part of who I am.”
In the end, Gucci wanted to set an example for others struggling with mental health, which is what led to writing Episodes. “I wanted to help people,” he told ABC. “I need to write a book to, kind of, be like a handbook or manual for artists that’s going through something…If I can do it, you can do it. And this is what I did to get past it.”
