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In an effort to give our consumers all the information possible regarding their commitment to recovery, we have researched different web sites that may be beneficial to you. Please check back frequently as this list is updated continuously. Thank you.

Please note that this is not the same crisis plan that is contained in the Person-Centered Plan that you may have already completed. This one will help you consider what would be helpful to you before a crisis and provide you with topics to discuss with your service provider and supporters about your wishes.
 
Warning Signs  
Taking steps toward your goals requires great courage. Recovery is the “single most important goal” for the mental health service delivery system. (National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery, www.samhsa.gov). In the past it was thought that a diagnosis of serious mental illness meant a lifetime of disability. Research, however, has shown that this is not true.

In the chart below, the first column is the name of the principal researcher; the second column is the number of mental health patients studied; the third column is how long they were studied; and the fourth column is the percentage who completely recovered from their mental illness.
Recovery is Real…
Study Size # Years Outcome
Bleuler (1972) Zurich 208 23 53-68%
Huber (1975) Germany 502 22 57%
Ciompi & Muller (1976) 289 37 53%
Tsuang (1979) Iowa 186 35 62-68%
Harding (1987) Vermont 269 32 62-68%
Ogawa (1987) Japan 140 22.5 57%
Desisto (1995) Maine 269 35 49%


The studies above set a high standard for recovery. The researchers did not mean that the patients were stable or had symptoms under control most of the time. They meant that recovery was having no current signs and symptoms of any mental illness; no current medications; working; relating well to family and friends; integrated into the community; and behaving in such a way as to not being able to detect having ever been hospitalized. (Courtney Harding)

What causes people to recover?
  • Using hope as a source of energy to continue a personal journey toward recovery
  • Getting in touch with who we are as people, instead of as patients or clients or consumers. Shifting our identity toward wellness
  • Becoming self-directed and beginning to understand our real preferences; making the choice to get well.
  • Beginning to be a self-advocate and learning how to pay an active role in our treatment and in our lives.
  • Asking for wellness tools that will help you take care of yourself.
  • Having supporters including care providers who are sources of hope and encouragement and who are trying to assist you in feeling well, getting well and staying well.
“Whether you recognize it or not, you are a powerful survivor and you possess tremendous courage and strength.”

Recovery oriented mental health systems empower people through education about:
    1. Treatments and medications: risks and benefits
    2. Lifestyles - living on SSI or with a job
    3. Careers, school and training programs
    4. Relationships: making them better, healing wounds, being a friend (we all need at least five friends)
    5. Living space and living arrangements
    6. Leisure time activities
    7. Other aspects of a person’s life: a faith community, community events, music, art, and politics (being a good citizen).
    Recovery oriented mental health systems support us by being tolerant and understanding when people vent frustration, heartache and anger associated with their suffering and owning the past failures of the system without being defensive. Recovery-oriented systems help people build strong and diverse support networks because support from family, friends, and care providers is essential to maintaining wellness. Supporters are the people we know we can call on when we need or want to talk, need help in figuring things out and making difficult decisions, need someone to take over for us and keep us safe when we can’t do it for ourselves, be a good companion, and to have a good time.

    Supporters are people who:
    • Stand shoulder to shoulder with us
    • Are willing to follow our predetermined plans, respecting our choices
    • Really listen to us
    • We know we can trust
    • Accept us as we are
    • Care about us
    • Affirm and validate us and our experience
    • With whom we feel a real connection
    • Share their lives with us
    • Are keepers of hope.
    What do we know about Recovery?
    • Recovery is very personal; it’s different for everyone; it is not linear.
    • Recovery is a process of self-discovery and renewal.
    • Recovery can happen both with or without professional intervention.
    • Recovery can happen even if symptoms continue to re-occur.
    • No one can predict who will recover or not.
    • Recovery does not mean that an individual did not really have a serious mental illness.
    • Recovery from the consequences of being ill is often harder than recovering from the illness itself.
    • People who are diagnosed with mental illness, like people who are diagnosed with diabetes, can learn to manage their symptoms effectively, maximize their wellness, realize their true potential, and go on to attain a life that is rich in meaning, productivity and genuine satisfaction.

    What is the role of the professional?

    To ask themselves:
    How much personal/professional discomfort am I willing to sit with while someone is trying out new choices?
    What are the assumptions I hold about a person because of his/her diagnosis, history and lifestyle?
    How can I put aside these assumptions and predictions in a way that encourages the other person to do the same?
    How are my boundaries being redefined as I work to deepen each relationship through this mutuality?
    What are the things that might get in the way of both of us stretching and growing?
    Can I see non-compliance as the exercise of Choice?
    Can I see treatment resistance as the Right to Refuse?
    Can I not use clinical language and terminology?
    Can I see consumers as the experts in their recovery?

 

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Click here to see the photos from the Journey of Recovery Event.

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