The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays

by Esmé Weijun Wang

After all, it is easy to forget that psychiatric diagnoses are human constructs, and not handed down from an all-knowing God on stone tablets; to “have schizophrenia” is to fit an assemblage of symptoms, which are listed in a purple book made by humans.

Giving someone a diagnosis of schizophrenia will impact how they see themselves. It will change how they interact with friends and family. The diagnosis will affect how they are seen by the medical community, the legal system, the Transportation Security Administration, and so on.

I care about recognition as much as I care about my own self-regard, in large part because I don’t trust my self-evaluation.

the researchers concluded that “a history of any autoimmune disease was associated with a 45% increase in risk for schizophrenia.”