In popular narratives, there is a clear tendency to romanticize mental illness as something like a personality quirk that can make a character uniquely special, the mental illness a challenge, but also a kind of gift.

Consider the examples of “A Beautiful Mind,” in which John Nash’s schizophrenia is portrayed as inextricable from his genius. In “Silver Linings Playbook,” Pat (played by Bradley Cooper in the film) is seemingly “cured” thanks to his romantic connection to Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) after spending eight months in a psychiatric hospital.

“The Mind Reels” by Fredrik deBoer seeks to undo these narrative tropes by dropping us into an immersive experience of what life with a profound mental illness truly entails, to show us that a disordered mind is no gift and that we should r

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