SNL Actor Takes a Hiatus to Address ‘Bad Bouts of Depersonalization’

Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang announced he would be taking a step back from his podcast to prioritize his mental health.

Over the weekend, the 32-year-old announced his pause from the Las Culturas podcast to treat his “bad bouts of depersonalization.”

“Taking a very short break from [‘Las Culturistas’]. Bad bouts of depersonalization are f–king me up bad, but I am doing my best to get better!” Yang wrote on his Instagram Story.

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According to the Merck Manual, depersonalization/derealization disorder involves “a persistent or recurring feeling of being detached from one’s body or mental processes, like an outside observer of one’s life (depersonalization), and/or a feeling of being detached from one’s surroundings (derealization).”

Some causations of depersonalization include:

• Biological and environmental factors like a nervous system that is reactive to emotions, personality of mental health disorders, and some physical conditions like a seizure disorder.
• Dissociative disorders offering intense stress or traumas — some including a parent with a severe mental illness, abuse, accidents, sudden death of loved one, war, and more.
• Other causes including certain drugs and hallucinogens, exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

Yang has been vocal about his personal life in the past, opening up about gay conversion therapy and being sent as a teen, according to People.

“There was a huge chasm of misunderstanding,” Yang said. “Neither side really understood where the other was coming from, and it led to very dangerous situations overall.”

“What was always constant was the intention of love from both sides,” he added. “It pushed me into questioning what it meant, what was protected and what I should be protective about in terms of being a queer person. I don’t take it for granted.”

When discussing his experiences being the first Chinese American actor on SNL as well as one of its gay stars, he admitted that “there’s some humility that has to be constant.”

“And If I ever put pressure on myself to represent in any meaningful way for Asian people, then that would just get in my way in terms of thinking that I am destined to speak on behalf of multiple people,” he added.

It is unknown when Yang will be back on his podcast but hopes of a swift recovery are sent his way.