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Chrys Weedon<\/strong> | Entertainment Editor<\/span><\/p>\n Esm\u00e9 Weijun Wang has attended the prestigious institutions of Harvard University and Stanford University, and has an MFA from the University of Michigan. Wang is the winner of the 2016 Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, a published novelist and an experienced fashion blogger and editor. Wang also has schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.<\/span><\/p>\n In her book \u201cThe Collected Schizophrenias,\u201d Wang includes 13 essays concerning her life and what it\u2019s like to live with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type and late-stage lyme disease. The book starts with the essay \u201cDiagnosis,\u201d wherein Wang describes the science, and controversy, behind her diagnosis and related disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. <\/span><\/p>\n Wang emphasized the importance of her diagnosis, even though some others with mental illness believe that diagnoses can be stigmatizing: \u201c…I’ve always found comfort in preexisting conditions. I like to know that I’m not pioneering an inexplicable condition.”<\/span><\/p>\n In another essay, \u201cHigh Functioning,\u201d Wang discusses with brutal honesty the sensitivity she has about \u201cappearing\u201d ill. \u201cI’m uncomfortable because I don’t want to be lumped in with the screaming man on the bus, or the woman who claims that she’s the reincarnation of God,\u201d Wang wrote. The author wrote about how she often overcompensates with her fashion choices, so she can seem more high-functioning than she often feels.<\/span><\/p>\n Other essays cover topics including her choice to not have kids, how her psychosis has affected her life and higher education\u2019s tendency to reject mental illness. Wang writes the fine line between accepting her mental illness as a large part of her life and being frightened of deteriorating and losing control of her life.<\/span><\/p>\n Wang\u2019s writing is both relatable and informative \u2014 so little is known about schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and misconceptions about the disorders run rampant. Wang\u2019s transparency and eloquent writing style was truly a breath of fresh air for me, a person who also identifies as mentally ill.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Collected Schizophrenias\u201d is a courageous and important piece of literature that looks at the complexity of mental illness through an intersectional lens. Wang\u2019s most recent work describes what mental illness is like and reminds readers that a life with mental illness is worth living.<\/span><\/p>\n Overall rating:<\/strong> I would strongly recommend this book.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n