I’ve been hearing different variations of this phrase from Yeezy’s most recent album in response to his cancellation of his Saint Pablo tour and recent hospitalization. People are angry that he would DARE cancel a concert right in the middle of the set after growing visibly upset and walking offstage.

If I hear one more person tell me about a musician who was performing when they were either physically injured or days away from death, I’m going to scream. It’s the whole “you can’t be sad because there’s someone else who has it worse” argument. I can’t imagine performing onstage while I’m bleeding or sick. I also know I couldn’t perform onstage during a wave of depression. People act like he wanted to become a laughing stock, which, of course, society was going to make sure happened. People act like he wanted to make his fans angry by cancelling shows. People act like he WANTED to go into the hospital for his own mental welfare.

I’ll admit, I’m a fan of Kanye. I love hearing about his life and his kids, and I listen to MBDTF and 808s whenever I need to let off stress. Until recently, I never really thought about how musicians needed escapes just like I do. When I need to avoid people, I can stay in my room for a few hours. When West is on tour, he can’t get a break from people. Period.

I can understand being upset that the tickets you just bought for his show are now worthless. I can’t understand hating everything that he is because of his mental health.

That’s what this topic is about: mental health. This is a conversation that so many people have when there are big, upsetting, and usually violent occurrences happen. However, whenever an icon such as Kanye West starts experiencing severe mental breakdowns, suddenly it’s his fault and he should not be forgiven.

Let’s be real here. He and his family have been in the news a lot lately. You think you wouldn’t be stressed out if you had to go through everything he’s experienced in the past month?

Mental health is a huge topic that we need to be able to discuss freely. There needs to be more research in stress and how it impacts the human body. I can’t possibly imagine what it’s like to live with anxiety and depression, and I don’t want to understand fully. What I do want is justice and love for those who are currently or have at any point experienced the crippling side effects of these diseases.

Kanye, I hope you feel better. Not because I love your music. Not because I love hearing about and seeing pictures of your children. While both of those are true, there is a much larger reason that branches to every person experiencing any form of mental health issue.

I hope you feel better because you are a human being. You are loved. You are important. You are strong. And you make a larger impact than you could ever imagine. We support you, and we want to see you at your peak again.