How did “Lady Dynamite” come about?

Mitch had heard my stand-up and then asked me to be on “Arrested Development” for a smaller part — I was called DeBrie, which is a hilarious name. And then he asked me to lunch. I wanted to tell the story of my own experience with mental illness, but I wanted to do it with other people. On my own, I’ve told that story hundreds of times. I also wanted to tell a story of a psychiatric ward, though I don’t think it came across as sad and devastating on the show as it really is.

The TV version of a psychiatric ward is more idyllic?

Oh, yes. On the show they show us playing with vision boards and playing badminton, which does not happen in a psych ward, at least not ones I’ve been in. [Those were] low budget — it’s almost as if an art director came in before and said, “O.K., let’s make sure half the chairs are broken, and none of the puzzles have all the pieces, and if we could stack Woman’s Day magazines from the late ’90s right over here, that’s the look.”

For years you’ve addressed your struggles with mental illness in your act. Has there been a cultural shift that allows such topics to now be the basis of a sitcom?

I think it is mainstream now. I would venture to say it is almost hack material. Which is good! I cannot wait until material about a transwoman who is also Muslim becomes tired. Where we go, “Yeah, we’ve seen it.” I’m always grateful when people talk about their experience on the planet. It makes me feel so much less isolated and so much more hopeful. I’ve got a subscription to Bipolar Magazine [bp Magazine]; it comes out quarterly.