And yes, as always, the family has to be there to pick up the pieces if there are setbacks, and show faith in their relative's ability to overcome and transcend any further obstacles to attaining wellness. Miraculous awakenings are few and far between. Yet I see all around me people in the consumer movement who seem to have awakened over time from involuntary commitments and hospitalizations. Most were finally stabilized on medications that worked for them. There is similar heterogeneity among persons, even those with the same diagnoses, who utilize our mental health system as inpatients, outpatients, clients, residents, or members.
People are different and their experiences of mental illness are different.
In recent years there has been an attempt to define the concept of recovery, to explore its process and subjective meaning. Consumers have written about their recovery experiences, in this journal and others, and certain patterns have emerged. Recovery is not a return to a premorbid state. It is not a sweeping away of cobwebs, a sudden clearing of the mind. Recovery is self-assessment and personal growth from a prior baseline, regardless of where that baseline was.