Wellbeing and self-help
Life beyond psychosis
Recovery is about getting through experiences of psychosis and getting on with your life.
If you have contact with EIP or another mental health service, you will probably hear people talk about ‘recovery’. Recovery is a word which means different things to different people. In the past, mental health professionals took recovery to mean a complete end to all signs of a mental health problem, so that, for example, you no longer feel anxious or have unusual experiences.
Recovery is a word which means different things to different people.
More recently, people who use mental health services have started to talk about recovery in a different way. While for some people, their upsetting experiences do go away all together, for other people their experiences don’t stop completely, or they stop and then come back again in the future.
If your experiences do continue, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get recover, carry on with your life and do the things you want to do.
You can get support so that you can get on and do the things you want to in life, even if you are still experiencing some mental health symptoms or other unusual experiences.
Recovery is about how you manage to live your life during and after mental health problems or psychosis.
For some people, recovery involves going through stages where you learn more about yourself and your experiences. It involves thinking about your goals and what you might like to do now and in the future. It is about growing as a person and discovering new things about yourself.
Mental health services aim to support recovery. Medication, talking therapies and other support from mental health professionals may help but lots of other things can be important to recovery too. Some people find that spending time with friends and family members is helpful.
Activities can be important, whether these are things you used to enjoy or new interests. Sport, art and music can be helpful and relaxing. Some people find things like meditation or more spiritual or religious activities helpful.
Activities can be important, whether these are things you used to enjoy or new interests.
Some people find meeting and talking with people who have had similar experiences can really help. Other people find that volunteering or starting a new job or educational course can give them something to focus on.
Some people continue their lives as they were before any mental health problems started.
Other people want to make changes and don’t want things to go back to how they were before. But even if things have to be different, recovery means that they can be just as good or better than before.
Recovery is an individual, gradual, sometimes slow process.
There may be slip-ups and difficulties along the way. Different people may find different things helpful and unhelpful. Family and friends can be an important part of recovery, but mental health services can help you to find the things that will help you to recover too.
Recovery is an individual, gradual, sometimes slow process.
