Sudbury native shares mental health story through baking

USING HER BAKING SKILLS TO DO IT. ERIKA: 30-YEAR-OLD AUTHOR AND BAKER DANA ALTMAN IS VOCAL ABOUT HER MENTAL HEALTH STORY. DANA: I’VE BEEN AN ADVOCATE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF MY MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY. DANA: AND ON — ERIKA: AN ENTREPRENEUR FOUNDING BAKE IT TO YOU MAKE IT — UNTIL YOU MAKE IT. DANA: USING FOOD AND BAKING TO TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH IN A WAY THAT’S NONTHREATENING, EASY TO TALK ABOUT, PALATABLE. ERIKA: SHE USES THE AR OF BAKING TO SHARE HER STORY, TRAVELING TO SENIOR CENTERS AND SCHOOLS TO SHARE WITH OTHERS WHO HAVE SIMILAR CHALLENGES. DANA: I FOUND THAT BY SHARING MY STORY SO MANY OTHERS FEEL COMFORTABLE SHARING THEIRS, TENFOLD AROUND FOOD AND BAKING. EVERYONE HAS A STORY AND SO MANY TIMES OUR STORIES ARE CONNECTED TO RECIPES OR FOODS THAT WE LIKE. ERIKA: AS THE PEOPLE WE MET SHARE THEIR STORIES, ALTMAN SAID THEY SHARED RECIPES THAT WERE SPECIAL TO THEM. SHE BEGAN COLLECTING THEM AND IN 2019 PUBLISHED BAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT, BAKING BREAD, BUILDING RESILIENCE. ANTHOLOGY COOKBOOK WITH 40 DIFFERENT RECIPES AND 40 INDIVIDUAL STORIES. DANA: I WANTED ANYONE WHO PICKED IT UP TO FEEL SEEN AND REPRESENTED. IN BETWEEN STORIES I INCLUDED MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES LIKE CREATING A SELF-CARE PLAN, WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU CALL THE HOTLINE. IT’S SO HARD TO ASK FOR HELP. WE THINK OF IT AS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS WHEN REALLY IT’S A SIGN OF STRENGTH AND BRAVERY AND IF I CAN BE THAT VOICE, THAT WOULD MEAN EVERYTHING TO ME AND I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT THROUGH BAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT, ALLOWING ME TO BECOME NOT ONLY THE ENTREPRENEUR I WANT TO BE BUT THE PERSON I WANT TO BE. ERIKA: ONE OF HER GO TO RECIPES IS GRAHAM CRACKER BROWNIES. NOT ONLY IS THE RECIPE SIMPLE, SHE USES IT AS A METAPHOR. FOR EXAMPLE — DANA: WHEN I GOT TO COLLEGE, THINGS FELL APART. I DIDN’T HAVE MY SUPPORT SYSTEM, MY FAMILY, I WAS ON MY OWN. THINGS REALLY CRUMBLED. THAT’S WHEN I AT THE GRAHAM CRACKERS. THIS IS REPRESENTATIVE OF MY LIFE AT THE TIME. ERIKA: SHE SHARES THAT SHE WAS PREVIOUSLY HOSPITALIZED IN BELMONT WHERE SHE RECEIVED TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION, OCD, AND AN EATING DISORDER. DANA: I WAS GRATEFUL TO GO THERE. CHANGED THINGS FOR ME. ADDING THE SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK, I COULD GET SOME TOOLS, TAKE THE SWEETENED — BUT THINGS TOGETHER FOR MYSELF. ERIKA: BUT HER RECIPE REQUIRES TWO CANS. WITHOUT THE NECESSARY INGREDIENTS FOR RECOVERY, SHE WAS BACK IN THE HOSPITAL. DANA: FOR ME THIS WAS A HUGE TURNING POINT. I WAS READY FOR RECOVERY, READY TO LEARN. I GOT NEW SKILLS, NEW MEDICATION, A NEW THERAPIST WHO I’VE SEEN THE LAST 11 YEARS AND I’M VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT. SHE GETS THE SECOND CAN OF SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK. ERIKA: AFTER FINISHING HER TREATMENT PROGRAM, SHE FOUND HER WAY TO NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY WHERE SHE BEGAN STUDYING SOCIAL WORK. DANA: I WANTED TO GO BACK TO MCLEAN AND HELP PEOPLE THE — THE WAY I WAS HELPED. ERIKA: BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER SETBACK WHEN SHE WAS STUDYING ABROAD. DANA: I WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY SOMEONE I WAS TRAVELING WITH. IF THERE WAS ANOTHER STEP IN THIS RECIPE TO THROW IT ALL ON THE FLOOR, THAT’S HOW IT FELT. BUT IT WAS THROUGH THERAPY AND CREATIVITY, TELLING MY STORY THAT I WAS ABLE TO FIND MYSELF AGAIN. ERIKA: USING THE TOOLS SHE LEARNED IN THERAPY, SHE GRADUATED IN 2015. A MOMENT THAT SHE FOUND BITTERSWEET. OR RATHER? DANA: SEMI-SWEET, AS A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN IMAGINE. I’M GOING TO ADD THE SEMI SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS TO THE BOWL. ERIKA: HER FIRST JOB WAS A DREAM JOB, COUNSELOR AT MCLEAN HOSPITAL. THROUGH HER WORK SHE DISCOVERED A NEW PASSION, HELPING OTHERS BY SHARING HER MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY. DANA: BRINGING ME TO TODAY, STARTING BAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT. ERIKA: SHE DOESN’T FEEL HER STORY IS OVER YET DANA:. SHE DANA: CONTINUES TO BAKE, EDUCATE, ADVOCATING FOR HERSELF AND OTHERS. EVEN WHEN THEY ARE BAKED, IT’S STILL MESSY. BUT THAT’S A GOOD SYMBOL. THEY CAN BE MESSY AND STILL DELICIOUS. ERIKA: — SHAYNA: AND LAST YEAR SHE WAS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FIRST EVER MENTAL HEALTH YOUTH ACTION FORUM. ANTHONY: HOSTED AT THE WHITE HOUSE, SHE SAID SHE WAS NERVOUS MEETING SELENA GOM

Sudbury native shares mental health story through baking

Dayna Altman now has a ‘Bake it Till You Make it’ cookbook, complete with mental health resources

Updated: 8:20 PM EST Feb 10, 2023

Thirty-year-old Dayna Altman is vocal about her mental health story. The Sudbury native is also an entrepreneur, founding Bake it Till You Make it in 2017. Altman travels to senior centers and schools to share her mental health story by way of baking. As people shared their stories with Altman, they often shared a recipe that resonated with them. Altman began to collect these recipes and, in 2019, published “Bake it Till You Make it: Breaking Bread, Building Resilience,” an anthology cookbook with 40 individual recipes and 40 individual stories.

NEEDHAM, Mass. —

Thirty-year-old Dayna Altman is vocal about her mental health story. The Sudbury native is also an entrepreneur, founding Bake it Till You Make it in 2017. Altman travels to senior centers and schools to share her mental health story by way of baking. As people shared their stories with Altman, they often shared a recipe that resonated with them. Altman began to collect these recipes and, in 2019, published “Bake it Till You Make it: Breaking Bread, Building Resilience,” an anthology cookbook with 40 individual recipes and 40 individual stories.