Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang announced that he is taking a break from his podcast, Las Culturistas, due to feelings of “depersonalization,” according to The Daily Mail. Depersonalization-derealization is a disorder that gives one an experience of seeing themselves from the outside or makes one feel that things around them are not real. The disorder may negatively affect personal relationships and work activities.
The 32-year-old actor and podcaster said that the disorder was affecting him badly but assured his fans that he is doing everything he could to get better. Bowens has reportedly produced the podcast since 2016 with co-host Matt Rogers.
The disorder usually occurs after a traumatic experience and is known to be developed around the age of 16. Bowen revealed in 2020 that as a teenager he underwent gay conversion therapy to assuage his parents after they discovered he was talking to another male online.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, Bowen opened up about growing up in a strict Asian household. His parents were not understanding of his orientation, according to his story. They questioned him and told him that they did not understand how he could be gay because that does not happen where they come from. He also tied their lack of understanding to their belief that conversion therapy would work.
Bowen spoke about his therapy experience and claimed that at first it was likable because it was just talking. After a few sessions, they allegedly focused on “sensory descriptions” of what was felt when talking to another man. The practice has since been outlawed in the state of Colorado. Bowen called it “completely crackers.”
He said that as an adolescent he would hear stories of kids getting kicked out of the house for being gay, and he resolve not to open up about it.
