Yes, completely. She also has experience of chronic pain as well. I think not separating the two is quite important, and quite central to some of her writing. This is one of those books that, when I first read it, blew me away. Although in some ways she’s talking about very different conditions to mine, there’s a commonality of experience, particularly in the experience of being a younger woman in the medical system, which is horrific in so many different ways. Although she’s talking about the American system, and also of being a racialised young woman, there are so many points in that text that made me cry in recognition. She writes so openly, so honestly, and so beautifully. That really helped set me on the course to think about how we can write about these experiences. We can be honest and open. Because it’s a big thing to write about, mental health, which is still so contested. And in that way it’s a really ground-breaking book.
"Yes, completely. She also has experience of chronic pain as well. I think not separating the two is quite important, and quite central to some of her writing. This is one of those books that, when I first read it, blew me away. Although in some ways she’s talking about very different conditions to mine, there’s a commonality of experience, particularly in the experience of being a younger woman in the medical system, which is horrific in so many different ways. Although she’s talking about the American system, and also of being a racialised young woman, there are so many points in that text that made me cry in recognition. She writes so openly, so honestly, and so beautifully. That really helped set me on the course to think about how we can write about these experiences. We can be honest and open. Because it’s a big thing to write about, mental health, which is still so contested. And in that way it’s a really ground-breaking book."
"Esmé Weijun Wang artfully weaves clinical and cultural analysis into her 13 essays on mental health and schizophrenia. The collection includes excerpts from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and reactions to movies and art. Wang’s writing is deeply personal as she chronicles her family history of trauma and mental illness, her own diagnosis journey and her considerations about whether to have children. Throughout she asks: What is real, and how do we define that for ourselves?"
