I found this image when doing a simple search on google images for 'recovery in mental health'. I love it, as it illustrates many words which, when combined, can make up part of the recovery process for many people who experience mental health.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that recovery is NOT a game. Unlike scrabble, recovery is a deeply personal journey. The Mental Health Foundation (1998), describes recovery as living positively with or without the presence of mental illness.
As you can see, this is not the way many people would define recovery. In terms of physical health recovery is generally getting rid of an illness or ailment altogether. For example, if you get the flu, your recovery would involve resting until you get rid of it.
However, in mental health it is not always so simple to 'recover'. An individual may always feel the effects of their mental illness, and they may have good or bad days. But, over a period of time, individuals may still feel they have 'recovered' as they have sufficient coping strategies to live positively with their illness.
Recovery will be different for everyone, it is a deeply personal and unique process which may involve the changing of goals, attitudes, roles and values in order to develop new purpose and meaning in one's life (Anthony, 1993).
If anyone has any further ideas about recovery in mental health I would love to hear about these, feel free to comment!!
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