A Layperson's Guide to Living with Mental Disease

A Layperson's Guide to Living with Mental Disease includes a Plan of Action for people to follow when behavioral changes in themselves or others are causing concern. It explains what Mental Disease is, talks about the stigma of the illness and the actual behavioral changes based on age from infants, to toddlers, to the age of reason, to puberty, to adolescents, to adults and seniors. The Guide covers Psychological Disorders and Syndromes such as Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar Disorders, Schizoaffective Disorder, Eating Disorders, Personality Disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Psychiatric Disorders. The difference between Psychiatrists and Psychologists is explained. The Guide DOES NOT recommend medications as only Psychiatrists can do this, but it does discuss medications in general. The issue of hospitalizations and rehabilitation centers and the stress of navigating getting help once Mental Disease is diagnosed (by a Psychiatrist) is discussed. Other issues like stigma, hereditary, Power of Attorney, and family impact are covered throughout the Guide.

Kathie was born in New York City. A Layperson's Guide to Living with Mental Disease is her fifth book. She has written Free to be Insane, Lucky 13: A Grandparent's Guide, The Customer Isn't Always Right, and the Bin of Life. She is a wife, mother and grandmother, presently living in Maryland. Mental Disease has been a part of her life since she was seven years old. The Guide includes a Plan of Action people can follow in order to determine if behavioral changes they are seeing in themselves or others is temporary or possibly a mental disorder. Kathie's opinion is that experience is just as important as medical degrees in helping people with Mental Disease syndromes and disorders. Kathie earned an Associate of Arts Degree, but believes it is her 70 plus years of experience dealing with mental disease at all levels which makes her guide so current and helpful. Her mother was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder after killing two of her five children. She was intent on murdering all of them. Kathie witnessed the event when she was six years old. She also suffered from depression all of her life until she joined a clinical trial at 60 years old and was prescribed a medication which has stabilized her depression for 14 years. During her recovery, she wrote Free To Be Insane, a fictional story based on her real life trauma and guilt over her mother's severe Mental Disease. She has been retired from State Government for 21 years, spending eight years of that time watching her grandchildren (Lucky 13: A Grandparent's Guide), and ten years working in retail to research her book (The Customer Isn't Always Right). Her fourth book, The Bin of Life, which was published in 2015 predicted the pandemic and other catastrophic events which have happened in the United States and the World. It is about the end of our civilization as we know it. Kathie hopes her Guide will help the many people who are dealing with Mental Disease and completely confused and stressed about what to so and how to navigate the system.