Will keeps fighting stigma and shining a bright light on some of the figurative dark corners of his mind as well as showing us some of his well-tended gardens of mind. Will started his 17 year campaign of educating people about mental illness and advocacy with City Voices in 2000, under current Editor in Chief and friend Dan Frey, later becoming a Columbia University Medical Library Chief, and now author of 63 books and counting.
From The Half Hour Intern show description: “Schizophrenia is not a death sentence. I’ve had a long prosperous life in a lot of ways. I’ve gotten a bachelor and masters from competitive programs. I’ve written 63 books. Maybe you have schizophrenia or somebody you love has schizophrenia, but it’s not a death sentence, you can have a normal life."
Being just fine, in perfectly normal health, is such an incredible blessing that we all too frequently take for granted. It is only when we go through aches and pains, viruses and diseases that we really really consider how lucky we usually are. Yet, even with aches and pains there is one area of our health that is still taken for granted, and that is our mental health. Many of us have the fortune of going through our lives and dealing with a little bit of anxiety here, some depression there, but all in all our brains are wired for normal mental health. Today’s guest, Will Jiang, is not so lucky. While going to college he suffered a psychotic break that later got him diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Will will tell us all about what it is like inside the mind of someone with schizophrenia, and how he was eventually able to to thrive in spite of his condition.
What a fascinating interview. How brave William was to let us into his own challenging world...which he handles with grace and even humor. God bless you, William. Love this podcast!
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