Recovery

Recovery is being able to create and live in a meaningful and contributing life in a community of choice, with or without the presence of a mental illness.

Recovery is a journey, and not a place or a destination. This journey is unique to each person. People with mental illness move along the journey from illness to wellness, sometimes moving forwards, and at other times relapsing and taking a backward step. Just as mental illness can be episodic, so too is the recovery experience.

People can and do recover from mental illness.

There are many ways you can support recovery:

  • learn as much as you can about the mental illness
  • have realistic expectations
  • acknowledge progress towards recovery
  • avoid making comparisons of the person you care for to others and to the person they once were
  • hold onto hope