Is full recovery from serious
mental illness possible?
Dwayne Mayes, Director of Howie T Harp Peer Advocacy and
Training Center, Community Access Inc. NYC
Cindy Peterson-Dana LMHC, Program Director of Sterling
Community Center, MHA of Westchester
Elizabeth Bloch, Family Support Specialist, MHA of
Westchester
Joanne Greenberg, author of many novels and short stories
including I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Joanne Greenberg
Recovery as a Possibility
 Thankfully, in the last 10-15 years, most
mental health services and recipients have
come to focus on recovery as the goal of
services.
 However, there are many definitions of
recovery
 Today, we present a panel discussion; We,
those with lived expereince, are the evidence.
Dr. Dan Fisher MD, PhD, someone who
is both a person with lived experience of
recovery and a practicing psychiatrist,
notes the importance of defining what we
mean when we talk about recovery from
mental illness. He believes that there are
two quite distinct visions of recovery.
(Fisher 2011)
Rehabilitation View of of Recovery
 Anthony (1993) identifies recovery as “ 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 the illness. Recovery
involves the development of new meaning and
purpose in one’s life as one grows beyond the
catastrophic effects of mental illness.”
 This perspective defines recovery from mental illness
as a rehabilitation of social and vocational
functioning in spite of a lifelong mental illness with
difficult symptoms, limitations and which usually
requires ongoing treatment with medication. Once a
person is diagnosed with a mental illness, they are ill
for life.
Vision of Full Recovery
Full recovery is defined as a life beyond
services. He states, "According to this view,
one is capable of recovering from the
mental illness itself, not merely regaining
functioning while remaining mentally ill.“
(Fisher 2011)
Other Definitions of Recovery
Courtenay Harding defines recovery as happening when
people have “no enduring symptoms, no odd behaviors, no
further medication and when they are living in the community,
working, and relating well to others.” (Harding et al 1987)
Paris Williams describes recovery for people who have
experienced psychosis as when “they have achieved relative
stability in their condition in which the overall sense of suffering
and limitation is the same or less than the level of that which
preceded their psychosis.” (Williams 2011, p.357)
My Story
 My first experience with the mental health system was
about 34 years ago…
 The thing that most helped me was going to live on my
Aunt Wanda and Uncle Willard’s farm in Iowa… where
I was put to work.
Personal and Professional Experience
 Stigma prevents many people who have recovered
from sharing their stories and providing more
evidence and inspiration that recovery happens.
 Trauma is often a factor. Once addressed, more
serious symptoms often subside.
 Exercise, meditation, psychotherapy, time, peer
support, self help groups and books, people who
believe in you all help.
 I have know many people, both friends and clients
who have recovered from mood disorders, addictions
and psychotic experiences.
Research Findings
 In the Vermont studies, Harding studied the people
who had the most serious symptoms and were initially
hospitalized the longest. Yet, over the course of 30
years, she found that 68 % either recovered completely
or significantly. Her findings indicated that
rehabilitation, self-sufficiency, and community
integration were the ingredients that promoted
significant improvement and recovery rather than the
treatment models, which espoused stabilization and
maintenance, medications and entitlements. (Harding
et al, 1987)
Paris Williams PhD states, "During much of the past century,
there has been the general assumption, both in mainstream
psychology and psychiatry and among the general public, that
schizophrenia and other long-term psychotic disorders are
degenerative and offer very little hope of full recovery. Over the
past several decades, however, numerous longitudinal studies
(Calabreze & Corrigan, 2005; Harrow & Jobe, 2007; Hopper,
Harrison, Janca & Satorius, 2007; Siebert, 1999) as well as a
plethora of first-person accounts (for example, Bassman, 2007;
Beers, 1981; Dorman, 2003; Greenberg, 1964; Modrow, 2003)
have brought attention to the fact that not only do some
people recover from schizophrenia but that recovery is
surprisingly common.
What Helps Someone Recover?
According to Harding's (1987) research;
Psychosocial Supports
Hope
Personal Persistence
According to Williams' (2011) research;
Hope
Meaning
A Sense of Agency
Healthy Relationships
Barriers to Full Recovery
*Stigma
*Hopelessness
*An unfounded belief that Full Recovery is not
possible.
*Lack of Role Models/Mentors/Full Disclosure
that Recovery happens every day.
*Lack of Resources, money, helpful services.
*Fee for Service program structure that rewards chronicity.
Bibliography
Anthony, W., (1993) Recovery from mental illness Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 16:12-23.
Fisher, D., (2011) . A new vision of recovery: people can fully recover from mental illness; Ii is not a lifelong process, Retrieved from http://www.power2u.org/articles/recovery/new_vision.html
Harding, C., Zubin, J., & Strauss, J. (1987). Chronicity in schizophrenia: fact, partial fact, artifact?
Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38(5) Retrieved from
http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/reprint/38/5.
Harding, C. et al. (1987). The Vermont longitudinal study of persons with severe mental illness, I.
Methodology, study sample, and overall status 32 years later. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144:718728.
Karon, B. P., & VanderBos, G. (1996). Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishging, Inc.
Mackler, D. (2010) Healing Homes; An Alternative Swedish Model for Healing Psychosis (DVD)
Retrieved from http://www.iraresoul.com/dvd2.html
Williams, P. (2011) A Multiple Case Study Exploring Personal Paradigm Shifts Throughout the Psychotic
Process, From Onset to Full Recovery. (Doctoral Dissertation) . Retrieved from
http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#abstract?dispub=3454336
Joanne Greenberg