The vision of recovery today: what it is and what it means for services

In the past, practice in mental health was guided by the belief that individualswith serious mental illnesses do not recover. The course of their illnesswas either seen pessimistically, as deteriorative, or optimistically, as amaintenance course. Research over the past thirty to forty years has indictedthat belief and shown that a vision of recovery can be achieved for many individuals.People with serious mental illnesses have themselves published accounts oftheir own recovery as well as advocated for the development of recovery promotingservices. In North America and other regions, policies have been developedto make recovery the guiding vision of services. Today, particularly in theUnited States, much effort is going into the transformation of services andsystems to achieve recovery outcomes. Despite these trends, the idea of recoveryremains controversial and, some say, even illusory. This article clarifiesthe meaning of the term "recovery", reviews the research and first personaccounts providing a rationale for recovery, and sets out implications fordeveloping recovery oriented services.