Mental health recovery is more than just the disappearance of symptoms; it is a profound transformation that allows individuals to regain control of their lives, find purpose and thrive despite obstacles. This seemingly simple concept represents a radical change in the support provided to people living with disorders.
By emphasizing hope, empowerment, and the resources of the people concerned, they become actors in their own recovery. This process can concern a wide variety of mental and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, depression, bipolar disorder, or post-traumatic stress.
Tania’s recovery
In the podcast Dingue, Tania talks about her long journey with addiction, mainly to alcohol. In 20 years, she had lost all hope of freeing herself from this addiction:
“I started drinking very early in the morning, I had to get up at night to consume, to be able to sleep.”
When I heard and met these people, I was shocked; in fact, I told myself that it was possible, that there was still a chance that I could get through this.
Tania, who recounts her long journey with addiction
One day in 2015, she happened to run into an old acquaintance, someone she called a “bar expert”, just like her. This person had changed: she no longer drank. She invited her to join a support group the next day, and Tania accepted:
“When I heard and met these people, I was shocked; in fact, I thought it was possible, that there was still a chance that I could get through this.”
Hope:
This hope is a key step in the recovery journey, often associated with the end of denial. As Pascale Ferrari, lecturer at the Institut et Haute école de la santé La Source, and clinical nurse specialist in the community psychiatry department of the CHUV, points out: “Denial is normal when you tell someone a diagnosis that can have serious consequences on their life. In psychiatry, denial has long been considered a symptom of the illness.”
Pascale Ferrari has developed a MOOC, an online course open to all, free and accessible via the Internet, dedicated to recovery.
Relapse:
In 2017, Tania no longer consumed, but suffered a relapse.
“It was a shock, because there was an absolutely devastating breakup. This experience was extremely enriching: it allowed me to understand that my illness manifests itself in a thousand ways. I “drank” a relationship that completely destroyed me.”
There was an absolutely devastating breakup. This experience was extremely enriching: it allowed me to understand that my illness manifests itself in a thousand ways
Tania, who recounts her long journey with addiction
Although this relapse was violent and suicidally dangerous, Tania is now able to see that it is part of her recovery journey. She has learned to better understand her vulnerability. After overcoming this ordeal, she joined an association that helps vulnerable people, often affected by addictions:
“I realize that I am not passing judgment on these people in precarious situations. I perceive that something subtle is happening in their lives.”
Tania’s second life
Today, Tania is a mental health peer practitioner, a role in which she uses her own experiences to accompany and support other people in difficulty, thus contributing to their recovery.
For Pascale Ferrari, the role of peer practitioners in the recovery process is still largely underestimated. “They can really help people start or continue their recovery process. Integrating peers into teams is a major challenge,” she says.
A health system focused on recovery
Integrating the recovery pathway concept appears to have multiple benefits.
What matters is to alleviate this suffering and allow individuals to find a meaningful place in society.
Pascale Ferrari, lecturer at the La Source Institute and School of Health, and specialized clinical nurse in the community psychiatry department of the CHUV
Pascale Ferrari explains that “studies on recovery and its impact on the healthcare system show a reduction in costs, because patients have less recourse to care. There is a lot of suffering; whether the patient agrees or not with the medical diagnosis, what matters is to relieve this suffering and allow individuals to find a place that makes sense in society.”
Every recovery journey is unique. For Tania, peer support was instrumental; for others, it will be family support, volunteering (which Tania did), or self-management of their disorder, drawing on a variety of available resources. When care systems incorporate this principle, their effectiveness and quality appear to improve.
As Tania says:
“We all have a damaged part of us, and it’s the undamaged part that can take care of the damaged part. I feel like that’s what happened to me. The undamaged part grew.”
Adrien Zerbini
