Nearly three years after finalizing her divorce from rapper Ye, Kim Kardashian is opening up about the "toxic" cycles that drove her to initiate the split.

In an Oct. 15 appearance on "Call Her Daddy," Kardashian, 44, told host Alex Cooper that she ultimately walked away to be an example for her children. The reality star shares four children with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West – North, 12, Saint, 9, Chicago, 7, and Psalm, 6.

"Once my mental health starts to get affected and then I can't parent the way that I need to and I can't be present and focused, then there's gotta be one of us that can," Kardashian said of the marriage. "I had to save myself in order to be a better mom for everyone. And I think, when everyone's older, they'll be able to understand it."

Since the split, Kardashian said she hasn't dated in the same way, avoiding "those kinds of toxic relationships."

While the SKIMS founder acknowledged that from the outside, it may have seemed that there were early signs of Ye's burgeoning mental health issues, she maintained on the podcast that her first instinct was to help.

"When someone has their first mental break, you wanna be super supportive and you want to help figure that out," she explained. "You want to really get into that with them and be there for them."

When West wasn't willing to make changes, however, she knew it was the end of the road.

"When you have kids, it's definitely harder to leave than it is to stay. And it changes everyone's life forever," she said, adding: "(An) over a decade relationship with four beautiful children is not a failure."

As Ye's behavior became more erratic, though, Kardashian said she began to feel unsafe.

"Just not feeling safe not even physically, just maybe emotionally or even financially," she told Cooper. "I would come home, and we had five Lamborghinis, and I'd come home and they'd all be gone if he was in an episode. And I'd be like, 'Oh, wait. Where's all our cars? Like, my new car?' And it would be like, oh, he gave them away to all of his friends."

Ye has been open about his mental health struggles, revealing a bipolar diagnosis. In recent years, his online outbursts, once viewed as the eccentric musings of a genius rapper, have turned hateful, veering into racist and antisemitic rants. He has also been hit with several lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct and improper workplace behavior.

"I didn't know what you're gonna get when you wake up," Kardashian admitted. "And that's a really unsettling feeling."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kim Kardashian opens up about 'toxic' relationship with Ye, 'not feeling safe'

Reporting by Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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