SNL Cast Member Struggling With 'Depersonalization'

Saturday Night Live cast member Bowen Yang is opening up about his mental health. Yang, the first openly gay Asian-American member of SNL's cast, also co-hosts a podcast called Las Culturistas, but he announced on his Instagram stories over the weekend that he's taking some time off from that gig, Page Six reports. "Taking a very short break from [Las Culturistas]," he wrote. "Bad bouts of depersonalization are f---ing me up bad, but I am doing my best to get better! Please take care, be back soon." The Mayo Clinic explains that depersonalization disorder happens "when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, or both." It says it can feel like "living in a dream," and is more common in people who've experienced trauma.

Yang has been open about trauma from his past, much of it stemming from being sent to gay conversion therapy as a teenager, Page Six reports. As he told People in 2021, when his parents found out he was gay, "There was a huge chasm of misunderstanding. Neither side really understood where the other was coming from, and it led to very dangerous situations overall." (More Saturday Night Live stories.)