Recovery means different things to different people. This research looked at the different ways people thought about recovery and what difference it made to them.
Tooth, B., Kalyanasundaram, V., Glover, H., & Momenzadah, S. (2003). Factors consumers identify as important to recovery from schizophrenia. Australasian Psychiatry, 11(Suppl1), S70-S77. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1665.11.s1.1.x
This article aimed to provide a lived experience definition of recovery based on what people stated recovery meant for them. It is based on interviews with 57 people who self-identified as recovered and the writings of 9 prominent leaders of the lived experience movement.
Knowing about how other people with lived-experience define recovery can be useful because:
- It can help you think about what recovery might mean to you.
- It can help you focus on what is important to you as you get on with your life
- It shows that recovery is possible
- It moves away from a view of recovery as all about medication, to viewing it as something people can manage through their own efforts and support from others.
- People with lived experience often think about recovery differently from academics and mental health workers.
Some people were uncomfortable with the word “recovery”. Many preferred to think of themselves as just getting on with their lives.
The following were consistently reported by people in this study and by lived experience leaders:
- Taking responsibility for managing your life
- Using mechanisms to cope (e.g., self-education, coping strategies)
- Having structure and organisation in your life
- A process that occurs in non-linear stages
- A personal orientation to living and enjoying life (including choosing your own actions)
- Feeling peace and contentment, meaning and purpose
- Being like other people
- Making educated decisions about medications
- Having support networks including other people with lived experience
- Having hope
The results show that recovery is a deeply personal experience and whilst there are common themes, there are very different ways of achieving recovery. People find out what works for them through trial and error and grow from the experience.
Recovery also involves people understanding themselves not as mentally ill but as a whole person facing challenges. This research showed that recovery can be a time of transformation. 66% of people in this research said they were functioning much better or better now than before the onset of symptoms.
Clearly recovery is not about fixing what is “wrong” with the person. Recovery is a personal narrative of transformation.
The podcast
The podcast based on this research is 30 minutes long and divided into 2 sections. In the podcast the interviewer Max, asks 2 of the researchers, Barbara Tooth and Helen Glover, questions about the research. The research focused on understanding what people, who identified themselves as recovered, stated where important to them in their recovery journey.
Topics in the podcast include: views on recovery; recovery as an internal process; understanding the important role of self-determination and personal responsibility in the recovery process; discussion about the awareness of the struggle of exercising personal responsibility in the face of being told you can’t; the transformative nature of recovery; discussion about what makes a helpful health professional; the use of medication; stigma; and a summary of important points about what is recovery.
To download the podcast and user manual, go to our DIY resource page.
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