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Just what is mental illness recovery and is it different from mental health recovery? Webster’s Universal Unabridged Dictionary provides 14 different definitions, six of which fit for Mental Illness Recovery or recovery from mental ill health (that’s how they say it in New Zealand) The 6 definitions pertaining to health are listed below:
We found answers to these questions by searching the Internet. Searching for Mental Illness Recovery and Mental Health Recovery results in surprises since there are multiple recovery initiatives going on across the world. When you search for Mental Illness Recovery or Mental Health Recovery in Google Search engine, over 500,000 references are identified. Anyone who has ever done an Internet search knows how overwhelming it can be to find exactly what he/she is looking for. Both Mental Health Recovery and Mental Illness Recovery bring up the same list of websites. One of the goals of our website is to make this a bit less stressful. In addition, there are an equal number of “despair” and “stigma” web sites. One of the stigma web sites quotes the daughter of a parent with bipolar disorder “I’ll be taking care of my mother for the rest of her life...” The confusion revolves around the definition of recovery. Consumer Definitions of Recovery Our definition of Recovery is to live normal and fully functional lives. Recovery Awareness Website Other recovery awareness advocates include Star Center – self-help is recovery.
Recovery is living – not surviving.
Recovery is purpose outside one’s self.
Recovery is knowing where to go, who to
call and when you need to.
Working is recovery.
Volunteering is recovery.
The beginning of recovery is finding a
safe place. – Share Center is a safe place.
Recovery doesn’t mean life is free of
mental health problems – but that people learned to cope with the problems. William Anthony, author of Recovery from mental illness: The guiding vision of the mental health system in the 1990s states that recovery from mental illness does not mean entirely symptom free. The 1993 article from the Psychological Rehabilitation Journal, (16 (4), 11-23, p. 14) said “it is a deeply personal, unique process of changing one’s attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills and/or roles. it is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations caused by illness.” The Psychological Rehabilitation Journal is the leading resource in the area of Mental Illness Recovery. To someone who has recovered the “illness is no longer the major focus in one’s life”. The New Zealand Mental Health Commission defines recovery more generally as “living well in the presence or absence of illness”. Finally, L.C. Curtis wrote a text on the international recovery movement titled, New Directions: An International Overview of Best Practices in Recovery and Rehabilitation Services for people with Serious Mental Illness (Vermont: Center for Community Change, 1997).
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Recovery Models n Definitions n Barriers to Recovery n Recovery Tools n International Recovery Awareness
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