“Really, becoming a writer sounds more like a mental illness than a professional choice.”

“In some ways, I don’t feel as if I had a choice. Looking back at my childhood, even before I could read and write, I was making up stories. I love reading and I love telling stories, and the times in my life when I’ve tried to ignore that part of me, I’ve gone a little crazy. Characters start tugging on my sleeves, words start haunting me, and I feel generally unsatisfied. Really, being a writer sounds more like a mental illness than a professional choice.”

“Mental illness didn’t really change people. It just made them more of who they were going to be anyway. Mental illness was less like obliteration, more like italics.”

“There are sins much more serious than socio-pathologies which really are mental illnesses, whereas self-righteousness is an illness of the soul.”

“Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, not lifestyle choices.”

“Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.”