What Kanye West and Kim Kardashian Dealt With Before His Breakdown

When it rains, it pours — and the first drops may have started to fall on Kim Kardashian and Kanye West even before she was attacked in Paris, in October. According to reports, there were troubles brewing in their marriage before that. “He would be up all night ranting about things,” a source told Us Weekly. “They were fighting because he was impossible to live with.”

With storm clouds already gathering at home, Kim being robbed of $10 million worth of jewelry at gunpoint in Paris on Oct. 3 made matters significantly worse. Following the assault, Kim — who was usually quite comfortable in public — didn’t feel like going out. “The trauma of the incident made her more hesitant to do things,” the source added. Kanye, meanwhile, went straight back to work, resuming his 63-date “Saint Pablo” tour. Because Kim wouldn’t travel, she wasn’t with her husband. “Of course it strained their relationship, because she hadn’t seen him.”

But it didn’t sound like West was dealing with it very well either. In fact, he was “completely freaked out,” according to reports. “The mere thought of his wife being taken from him was too much — it was like his mother’s death,” the source said. “Seeing Kim close to death did a major number on him. It sent him into a tailspin.”

Clearly, her assault had triggered something in Kanye, who was off touring while she coped at home. “She felt like now she needed him to be stable and her rock instead of the other way around,” the source added. Kanye, however, couldn’t take care of her because he was struggling to take care of himself. A source told People that Kanye was “extremely sleep deprived and had not been taking care of himself,” which certainly didn’t help things.

Then Nov. 20 rolled around, which happened to be the ninth anniversary of Kanye’s mother’s death. According to TMZ, sources claim the Grammy winner has never effectively grieved after his mom’s death, and he finally hit his breaking point. He cancelled his show at the LA Forum while Kim headed to New York City for the Angel Ball on Nov. 21 (apparently having recovered somewhat from her fear of going out). That day, Kanye cancelled the remainder of his tour and Kim received a phone call that her husband had shown up at his trainer’s home and was “having difficulty identifying what was real.”

Kim realized how serious the situation was and headed back to Los Angeles, where she got busy holding down the fort in his private hospital room. While Kanye had allegedly had breakdowns like this before, in previous incidents he had bounced back. “In the past when Kanye seemed to struggle, no one took it too seriously. The attitude was more like, it was just Kanye being Kanye,” a source told People. Usually after a few days “things would go back to normal, but “this time is much different.”

One major contributing factor to the difference seemed to be Kim’s absence. “Without having Kim by his side during the tour, as planned, Kanye wasn’t able to snap back. Kim being absent because of her own struggles seems to be why things are different with Kanye this time,” the source explained.

Though Kim is by his side now, she is also caring for their children (who reportedly have not visited their father in the hospital), splitting her time between home and the hospital. “Kim is focused on Kanye right now and making sure her family is getting all the care and attention that’s needed,” a source informed People. “They’re her priority and main concern right now.”

Though people had originally hoped Kanye would be released two days ago, things didn’t work out that way and no new release date has been confirmed. It seems that his marital woes combined with Kim’s assault right around the anniversary of his mother’s death might have been too much to handle. Despite that, a source told Us, “Kim feels relieved he is getting the help he needs. She thinks this is what it will take to save him — and help their marriage.”