Linda Baron-Katz

Linda Baron-Katz Quick Facts

Main Areas: Bipolar Disorder, Mental Illness, Recovery
Career Focus: Author, Writer, Speaker, Peer Specialist
Affiliation: Queens College, PSCH, Community Access, Transitional Services of NY

Linda Naomi Baron Katz was born on March 21, 1969 and grew up as a child in Baldwin, NY.  Throughout her life, mental illness played a big factor.  It started when her mother was diagnosed with acute depression when Linda was ten years old.  Linda did not understand what her mother was going through but it caused nothing but chaos to her and her family.

Upon growing up towards adulthood, her mother's illness had an affect on her too. Throughout high school and college, Linda was depressed most of the time because it was difficult for her to make friends, develop positive relationships, and to get a part time job.

After college, Linda found it difficult to keep a steady job which brought on a deep depression and at the age of 24 she developed manic symptoms too and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  Her social life did not get any better. As a modern Orthodox Jew, Linda had difficulty maintaining relationships with people, especially men. Every time Linda would disclose her mental illness, men ran away from her.  Through those years, Linda realized with the help of her psychiatrist and therapist that life was worth living and that she needed to find someone who could understand he mental illness.

Linda faced many heartbreaks and challenges, but with her belief in God and Judaizm, she never stopped trying to fight her way back towards recovery.  As part of her recovery, Linda became active in the mental health field.  She became a member of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and published articles in New York City Voices, a newspaper that helps fight against stigma and other recovery stories pertaining to mental illness.  Afterwards, Linda found employment working for agencies that help others with mental illness reach their goals and dreams.

Linda published a book this year titled Surviving Mental Illness, My Story with the help of publisher Outskirts Press. She also created a website titled Surviving Mental Illness which not only lists her book with Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com, but also wrote several blog posts on what her book is about and also short articles on issues regarding mental health.  The website is www.surviving-mental-illness.com.

Today, Linda is happily married, a college graduate, and continues her work as a mental health advocate.

 

 

 

Linda Baron-Katz Books

Contacting Linda Baron-Katz