Kim Kardashian Reveals Brain Aneurysm Diagnosis Linked To “Extreme Stress” From Kanye West Divorce In Emotional ‘The Kardashians’ Premiere
By Erin Whitten
Kim Kardashian just shared some personal news that had fans shocked and concerned. In the season 7 premiere of The Kardashians, which premiered today, the 45-year-old reality star opened up about learning doctors found a small aneurysm in her brain during an MRI, with stress as the presumed cause.
In a clip from the episode, Kim can be seen inside the MRI machine, and just as the machine comes to a stop, she says, “There was a little aneurysm,” as Kourtney Kardashian appears shocked next to her. Kim then explained to her family that her doctors believe stress was to blame. Although Kim was told by her doctors the size of the aneurysm was “really small” and “nothing to worry about,” she used the scary experience as a lesson, saying that she “shouldn’t let all the emotional trauma that’s happened over the years to start manifesting itself in my body.”
Kim also used the emotional episode to break down the pressures of motherhood and business, and also the personal work she’s been doing to heal after her divorce from Kanye “Ye” West. In the episode, Kim discussed the stress of being the constant and stable parent for her kids while simultaneously shouldering the emotional labor that comes with navigating co-parenting and divorce, in addition to the public scrutiny.
Kim told the family that stress is just part of her life as of late. “I don’t think I’ve had a second to breathe the past few years with just the decisions I have to make and knowing how to handle everything that he’s done,” Kim says. “And even though I know we’re not together, I still find myself in defense mode,” Kim added. “And I’m not just talking about my kids, but for me, too,” she continues. “The defense mode of just everything that’s been going on, emotionally, for me to have to watch out, even with all that I have, it’s so exhausting,” she adds. “And actually, I had just gotten really, really good at my psoriasis… but it’s been super bad again, so I know it’s from stress.”
Kim said her emotional labor of late has been exhausting, and it was finally catching up with her. “I felt more stressed, probably because I had to super, super protect what I had to protect,” she says, in reference to her children and Kanye’s actions. One of Kim’s children recently learned about some of Kanye’s controversial public behavior for the first time, and Kim said the moment was particularly difficult for her. “They’re going to grow up, they’re going to see,” Kim said. “So my job as a mom is just to make sure that when that behavior is happening, they’re protected.”
Kim appeared rattled by the health news, but she seemed to find some solace in the moment, too. “I just feel super blessed that it was found and it was caught early, like on time,” she says. “But it’s definitely a wake-up call to kind of slow down and really take care of myself and make sure that I’m doing everything that I can to be healthy.”
New episodes of The Kardashians stream Thursdays on Hulu.
