What Does Recovery Even Mean?

I see so many posts on social media about mental health recovery, amazing before and afters, people being cured of their mental illnesses etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I am over the moon for people who can say they used to have a mental illness. But recently I have heard from a few people, especially on days like world mental health day, how upset and demoralised they have felt because this is all that seems to be celebrated.

In reality, most people with significant mental illnesses never feel in a position to say they are “recovered”. That’s not to say they don’t get to a point where they can be symptom free, not needing any medication or any other treatment. It’s not to say that the bad stuff is going to be there for the rest of their lives, that would be a horrid thought. It means that it may be something that needs to be kept in check, part of your overall life management.

Sometimes, it will be all consuming. You might be unwell for the first time or having a relapse. It will require all your energy to keep moving, keep putting one foot in front of the other. This is the bit that feels like your whole life revolves around your brain, your thoughts, your diagnosis, your meds, your treatment.

But ultimately those phases pass, be it with self-care, therapy, medications, or a million other things. Either way, it takes effort to get out of those dips. It takes will and determination and requires you to face up to so many scary thoughts.

So being able to say you are out of a dip? That is an amazing achievement.

That is why it broke my heart hearing people tell me they didn’t feel like they could celebrate their progress, because they weren’t completely “better”. They were still taking the meds, still going to therapy, still having to put a little more effort into keeping that nagging voice in the back of their head quiet. And I think this is where the concept of, and constant focusing on recovery can be detrimental. Because recovery doesn’t mean not having the negative bits anymore. It means you are in a better place to deal with it. That for the most part, the good brain stuff outweighs the bad brain stuff.

So please, if you ever find yourself thinking you haven’t done well enough at the whole “recovery” thing, remember that recovery is a process, not a result. Sometimes it takes next to no effort, sometimes it takes a lot more, and very often it requires input of other people to help you with that process.

You, dealing with your own brain and getting yourself to a better place is an incredible achievement. And you have every right to be proud of wherever you are on your own “recovery” journey.

-Lis