The Collected Schizophrenias

Esmé Weijun Wang is the writer of The Collected Schizophrenias. The collection is a combination of personal narratives, references to popular culture and historical events, institutional and statistical analysis, and Wang’s musings on all of the above. Wang was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in her early twenties after living with a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder for several years. As a result of her illness, Wang has experienced a wide array of traumatic events, ranging from her delusions (being dead or thinking she has superpowers) and hallucinations (seeing corpses, her abusive ex, and more) to being discharged from Yale and involuntarily hospitalized three times, to her experiences with the spiritual world and the occult. These experiences shaped the person she became, her ideals, and the way she leads her life, illustrating The Interweaving of Mental Illness With Identity. Wang’s portrayal is honest and informative, with small doses of humor and sarcasm throughout. Wang pairs her experiences with information to lay a solid foundation for the messages she hopes to impart to the reader, including Hope in the Face of Great Challenges, the prevalence and resulting problems of Stereotypes and Stigmatization of Mental Illness, and the ways Institutions Fail to Treat and Prevent Mental Illness.

Wang’s essays indicate several things about her character and her views on mental health. By writing this collection, Wang shows that she is willing to open up about deeply personal and often embarrassing experiences, and she does so without shame. One example of this is the anecdote about developing Cotard’s delusion, in which she describes herself as crying with joy as she announces to C. that she is dead. The scene’s dark humor exposes Wang’s humanity. In revealing her experiences with schizoaffective disorder, Wang not only contributes to the destigmatization of the illness but also provides comfort and relatability for people with it and similar disorders. Wang devotes much of her time to destigmatization, hosting talks, interviews, and podcasts to talk about schizoaffective disorder, living with mental illness, and the unique challenges and systemic obstacles that people with psychotic disorders face.

Wang is not only honest about her experiences but about what she sees as institutional problems. This includes issues like Yale’s failure to support her mental health or allow her readmission once she recovered; the exposé of NAMI, which fails to support people with mental disorders as it claims; and the systemic abuse endured by people in psychiatric facilities. Not only does Wang have personal experience with these issues, but she also cites interviews and outside sources to cement their importance.

Finally, in writing her collection, Wang illustrates that she and people with even the most severe disorders are, in many ways, just like everyone else. They seek relationships, careers, and education; they care about their appearance, the way they are seen, and how they treat others; they have goals, senses of humor, and the capacity for good. Perhaps most importantly, they awake in the morning hoping today will be better than yesterday.