Recovery and Mental Illness

Recovery And Mental Illness

Recovery has become a popular term in the field of mental health. The question is what is meant by recovery. The concept of recovery can have many different connotations depending upon the specific context For example if a person falls off their bike their recovery is likely going to be determined by the severity of their injuries. If the person falling from his bike gets up and discovers that he or she only has a few minor scrapes and bruises, prognosis for recovery is likely to be very positive. In other words the individual will be expected to make a complete recovery within a short period of time. It is predicted that they will quickly return to one hundred per cent of their previous functionality. In this best case scenario recovery means a complete return to your former state of health.

When we are talking about recovery from mental illness a return to optimum health and return to previous level of functioning is the exception rather than the rule. The mental health consumer to some degree or another will have to deal with loss of functioning or loss of quality of life. To a great extent this will be determined by the diagnosis and the severity of the mental illness. I will talk more about recovery in future blog posts.