Powerful,affectingessaysonmentalillness,winneroftheGraywolfPressNonfictionPrizeandaWhitingAwardAnintimate,movingbookwrittenwiththeimmediacyanddirectnessofonewhostillstruggleswiththeeffectsofmentalandchronicillness,TheCollectedSchizophreniascutsrighttothecore.Schizophreniaisnotasingleunifyingdiagnosis,andEsm矇WeijunWangwritesnotjusttoherfellowmembersofthe“collectedschizophrenias“buttothosewhowishtounderstanditaswell.Openingwiththejourneytowardherdiagnosisofschizoaffectivedisorder,Wangdiscussesthemedicalcommunity’sowndisagreementaboutlabelsandproceduresfordiagnosingthosewithmentalillness,andthenfollowsanarcthatexaminesthemanifestationsofschizophreniainherlife.Inessaysthatrangefromusingfashiontopresentashigh-functioningtothedepthsofarareformofpsychosis,andfromthefailuresofthehighereducationsystemandthedangersofinstitutionalizationtothecomplexityofcompoundingfactorssuchasPTSDandLymedisease,Wang’sanalyticaleye,honedasaformerlabresearcheratStanford,allowshertobalanceresearchwithpersonalnarrative.Anessaycollectionofundeniablepower,TheCollectedSchizophreniasdispelsmisconceptionsandprovidesinsightintoaconditionlongmisunderstood.
