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What does recovery mean to you?

SienaSiena Posts: 15,681 Skive's The Limit
in Health & Wellbeing
Hey!
So just wondering what you think about when you think of recovery or what the word 'recovery' means to you. Preferably in terms of mental health. Know can mean different to different people. and some think is not a set time but more of an everyday thing and a process of trying to get where want to be.And some think that maybe it when they have learnt how to function or manage life along side with mental illness but not affected so much, or some think it is how they was before the illness and to go back to a completely healthy mental health.?or something else

I personally don't really know and think I'm just stuck with how I am feeling but I'm just interested in others perspective/interpretation of it and what you think
“And when they look at you, they won't see everything you've been through. They won't see the **** that turned to scars that began to fade with time. They won't see the heartbreaking things that shook up and changed your entire world. They won't know how many tears you cried or even what it was you were crying about. They won't see how strong you had to be because you had no other choice. What they will see though is how compassionate you are because you experienced pain. What they will see is how kind you are because you experienced how cruel the world is. What they will see is how good you are because you've seen how bad things or people can be. The difference between you and your experiences are who you choose to be, despite everything that could have turned you cold and unkind.You are the good the world needs and the best of us.” ~ Kirsten Corley

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Owl Whisperer Posts: 1,020 Wise Owl
    Nice topic, Shaunie. :)

    To my sister Mandy, the definition of recovery meant her return to a normal feeling of mental and physical health where she became stronger. Being her carer (not officially a carer) it took me over a year to bring her back to health again, so I am speaking solely for Mandy and not me.

    Last month I bought us Selfhood: A Key to the Recovery of Emotional Wellbeing... by Dr Terry Lynch. It's available on Kindle priced £6.45 or £15.99 paperback. It was written to help people recover their sense of self. I bought the paperback and it was worth every single cent.

    Mandy has had depression, anxiety and 'user' problems. In 2016 she was screwed over by a psychiatrist who caused her more harm than good. So I decided to make her well again all by myself. Looking back I think the emotional difficulties I suffered in my own life were helped through helping my sister.

    There is no set time to go through the steps to recovery. This is because everyone is completely different in personality, upbringing or culture depending what country they come from and what parents and relatives were like. The process of recovery therefore varies widely, but the triumph is personal achievement from enormous difficulties no matter who you are.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Miniposter Posts: 91 Budding Regular
    Heh, to me recovery is two fold...

    There isn't a cure for OCD, it'll never go away for me. But I can control it if i try, and to me, recovery is that: having ocd under control enough that I don't have to agonise for ages over things, that i don't need to spend more than 5 minutes checking the every door and window in the house before I leave it, skip uni cus i'm so anxious, refuse to sleep because of ocd. I can live with it, but i'd rather not be controlled by it.

    And then there's...depression. After, what, 6 years? I'm not sure what recovery is anymore, or normal life for that matter. It feels unattainable, but I know, well, hope, I can start recovering once, if i mange to move out. For me, I suppose that would combatting the urge to self harm after every little thing, to be in a position where I can vent to other people again without hating myself for it, to feel and express emotions again.
  • SienaSiena Posts: 15,681 Skive's The Limit
    edited September 18
    thank you both v much for sharing! is interesting to read other perspective. think is great way to think about as some direction, to know how you view it and where wanna get to.
    but tbh the more i try to think of what it means for me, the more hopeless i feel cause think am more suffering than recovering and getting nowhere and would just want to have completly healthly mind but like way you see it for yourself @Past User think lot of people realise they may not be completly cured but learning how to manage which is just as okay and close as may get.- still can have good life & sounds like a good read mirabelle, will have to have a look
    Post edited by TheMix on
    “And when they look at you, they won't see everything you've been through. They won't see the **** that turned to scars that began to fade with time. They won't see the heartbreaking things that shook up and changed your entire world. They won't know how many tears you cried or even what it was you were crying about. They won't see how strong you had to be because you had no other choice. What they will see though is how compassionate you are because you experienced pain. What they will see is how kind you are because you experienced how cruel the world is. What they will see is how good you are because you've seen how bad things or people can be. The difference between you and your experiences are who you choose to be, despite everything that could have turned you cold and unkind.You are the good the world needs and the best of us.” ~ Kirsten Corley
  • Former MemberFormer Member Owl Whisperer Posts: 1,020 Wise Owl
    I'm glad I was able to help you, @Shaunie But my recovery was from a whole bunch of things, and I suppose it could be said that I'm still reeling from the death of my little one, 2 years old, who died from pneumonia just over two years ago. Though depression tried to get a grip on me, I refuse to give into it. I'm a fighter and in reaching out to others and supporting them helped me manage my own emotional health, except I found Terry Lynch's book and discovered inside his writings that there was a really good key to my recovery. Though this was going to be a battle, but I'd win in the end providing I got a grip.

    Dr Terry Lynch made me want to have him be my doctor. His writing came from helping people deal with their anxieties and a sense of being alienated from the world because of their depression and hangups. The author focuses not on the problem in itself, but enourages us to dip in to our inner resources to deal with them, and on a daily basis, the book took me one step at a time towards building my own sense of selfhood and now I have a real grip that is enhancing my everyday life. Lynch set out a pathway for me to claim, and by doing things he explained gave me a real sense of motivation. That book helped me release my fears and insecurities that tethered me every day, and then I was able to reach out to my sister in her desperate need, but despite her nastiness at the beginning, Mandy got well again and in doing so, there started my own recovery.

    Lately, there has been a marked difference in you. It is wonderful and though we will always have ups and downs, the key is always there to be trurned to open that door and let walk through to the next stage. Thank you for giving this opportunity to share. I am sure you are getting well again, I sense it, and it is good. :)

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 3,590 Community Veteran
    To me, recovery simply means being free. Not being free of mental illness completely cause i know with my condition that will never happen, but one day i hope ill be able to manage it and live a relatively normal life. So i guess by saying free, i mean that one day i hope to be able to cross a bridge without my mind telling me to jump, where calories are just a number and not something i live fearing over,where i can finally feel safe enough to move out and live on my own, that's the ultimate goal. I feel like even though my mental illnesses wont go away, there will be a day where i can manage the symptoms and feel free from the grips of my conditions.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 118 The Mix Convert
    Hi everyone!!
    Recovery to me means "going back to the familiar feeling I experience when I am ok". it's not going back to a situation, because I believe that "everything goes" and that tomorrow we will be a different person from the one we were yesterday. So, when I talk about recovery I talk about feelings and about a certain feeling of positivity and serendipity that people reach sometimes and where we can always go back after a difficult moment.

    - Fran
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