Culture & Identity

What does recovery mean?
Ioana Arbone
Minds Matter Magazine Volume III Issue I Culture & Identity
One of the most popular ideas in mental
health is something that we can hardly define
- recovery.
Our ideas of recovery seem to constantly
change. Recovery is now part of international
and Canadian policy on mental
health. Yet it is difficult to understand what
recovery is. The idea varies across mental
illnesses, addictions and treatment methods.
Across the world, there are different
answers to these questions: What does it
mean to recover from mental illness or addiction?
How can people recover from mental
illness or addiction? And even, can people
recover from mental illness or addiction?
Studies in the 1970s showed that
most individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia
go on to live meaningful and productive
lives. This idea is at the core of the recovery
movement. One of the achievements of the
recovery movement is the integration of people
with lived experience as part of the overall
mental health and addiction system, and
training opportunities for mental health and
addiction staff to learn about recovery. Some
of the movement’s values are less murky. In
the recovery movement, “recovery” does not
mean symptoms or struggles disappear forever.
It means personal or psychological recovery
- learning to lead a meaningful life, while
still living with mental illness and its symptoms.
Understanding revovery across cultures is a goal driving a global movement.
Image By Adley Lobo
The pursuit of definitive answers to
these questions have given rise to the recovery
movement. The recovery movement is a
social movement working to change understanding
of mental illness across the world,
according to Larry Davidson, a Yale University
professor and author of Roots of the Recovery
Movement.
It is not clear specifically how or where
the recovery movement developed, but Davidson
says that the recovery model is very
Western, and focuses on the individual. He
says we need to be mindful of other cultures
who are focused more on the community
than the individual.
“One of the shortcomings of the concept
of recovery and the recovery movement
is that it’s hazy,” says Sean Kidd, a clinical
psychologist with the Centre for Addiction
and Mental Health.
In this, recovery includes focusing on
strengths, while acknowledging weaknesses.
It encourages people to take calculated risks
towards leading a meaningful life.
(Wellbeing, Recovery and Mental Health,
Chapter 9, page 102)
Recovery lies in decreasing and preventing
symptoms or unwanted behavior,
while increasing and promoting wellbeing
and strengths. Studies have supported the
benefit of focusing on strengths instead of
avoiding things that trigger symptoms - including
in mental health services.
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