Mental Illness and Recovery: Lived Experiences and Principles of Recovery-Oriented Mental Health Practice

This article discusses the concept of mental health and illness, lived experiences of psychiatric illnesses, principles of recovery-oriented mental health practice, and the national framework for the recovery-oriented service. The article also illustrates the implementation of the framework in mental illness basing the illustrations from the poems by Sandy Jeff.

Running head: MENTAL ILLNESS AND RECOVERY 1
Mental illness and Recovery
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Mental health and illness
Mental health is the state of being mentally fit for a good living. The person is able to
understand his/her abilities and able to deal with all the issues of life. The individual can also
work fruitfully and productively to make a substantial contribution and benefit to the entire
community.
Mental illness or psychiatric disorder is a pattern of behavior that significantly causes
impairment of the individual functioning or distress. The features may be persistent, aggravating
and diminishing. Many disorders have widely varying signs and symptoms. They affect an
individual's moods, feelings, as well thinking. The condition in most cases affect a person's
ability to do their duties and socialize with other people. Different mental conditions are not
caused by the same sequence of events (Fazel, & Seewald, 2012). Research suggests that
different mental disorders are caused by the influence of the lifestyle, genetics, the coping skills,
life history and circumstances, levels of both workplace and personal stress and access to both
health care and social supports.
Mental disorders are very common all over the world. They affect anyone anywhere
regardless of race, age, religion or the social class (Rogers, & Pilgrim,2014). Majority of the
people who are diagnosed with critical mental conditions can experience some relief from the
symptoms by actively taking part in a personal treatment plan.
The objective of the paper is to deeply discuss and illustrate the concept lived experiences of
psychiatric illnesses, principles or concepts of recovery-oriented mental health practice, the
national framework for the recovery-oriented service and the implementation of the framework
in mental illness basing the illustrations from the poems by Sandy Jeff.

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Whatever our experiences or circumstances, it is the goal of every person to live a self-
satisfying, comfortable and fulfilling life. The goal of such life may seem to be unrealistic and
out of reach if one suffers from a serious mental disorder. The care providers and the families of
people with mental health challenges have some unique insights and knowledge of how the
services can influence the mental health and promote the recovery of the client (Schomerus, et al
2012). The focus should be redirected to supporting recovery through self-participation and
determination. Doing this will facilitate and enable the mental wellbeing, building support
networks, resilience and finally the people's strengths.
People who are experiencing some mental disorder face difficult conditions such being
abandoned by both friends and family members, some physical illness, or even drugs and
substance abuse as well as alcohol-related cases. Some groups face challenges in accessing the
mental health care facilities. (Wahl, 2012). Close family members and friends have a significant
impact on mental health depending on the support that they provide. (Goldberg, & Huxley,
2012).in the poem “A journey in the dark wood” Sandy Jeff reveals her childhood experiences
and how they contributed to her mad. She witnessed the domestic violence at home and could
not share with anybody. The memories lived to haunt her the rest of her life. Mental disorders
must be dealt with by creating the partnership between the people with lived experiences and the
society which must provide a full range social, community, and voluntary health services and
other support.
Sandy Jeff uses poetry to express her lived experiences with schizophrenia. In the poem
"The madwoman in this poem" sandy explains some the things that people suffering from mental
disorders have to go through in the hands of family and friends. The madwoman lives on the
twenty-second floor without the husband or any children. The family that is supposed to give her

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moral support is nowhere near her. She is forced to engage herself in drugs like the cigarette as
she patiently waits for any communication from any member of the family. She is also forced to
get shelter in the doorways and bus stops. Her troubles persistent even more since nobody is
there to offer any food. She takes discarded beer from the used bottles and scrounges the garbage
bins to get some food. She also begs for some money to get cigarettes. (Jeffs & Staines,1993).
Sandy confesses to grapple with some hallucinatory voices which she hears. This is one
of the schizophrenia symptoms which she has lived for more than thirty years. Severally, Sandy
has felt tempted to commit suicide which she has been resisting. According to Sandy, living with
schizophrenia is horrible and one has to understand how it affects one's mind and its moods. The
effects may be delusions, negative thoughts or imaginary voices that one hears. When Sandy was
diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of twenty-three she thought all was gone. Many people
looked down at her. To her, being diagnosed with the disease was like a death sentence. Sandy
Jeff thinks that people suffering from mental illness need to be given opportunities for them to
get some purpose and meaning in life. Mental health care professionals can diagnose psychotic
illnesses by the focus on recovery (Bloch 2004).
Recovery from a mental disorder is a process which begins with diagnosis and finally
moves into successful management of the condition. The process involves some bit of learning
about the psychiatric disorder and the best effective treatment possible, helping those who are
affected by the condition achieve the mental wellness, and empowerment of the people with the
disorders. The support must come family members and the peers. The recovery process of the
mental disorders causes a change by which the individual is able to live a life that is self-
directed. Focus on achieving their full potential as well as improve their wellness and health. The
context of mental illness recovery has been misunderstood for long until recently because of the

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biomedical interpretation of the health until recently when the view changed. In orders to have
the best and effective outcome from the treatment of mental conditions, both the personal and
clinic recovery methods must be utilized well. The two have unique and uniting factors that must
be collaboratively used together for the best results
In the recent years, recovery has become a popular notion in the mental health care
around the globe. However, lack of guidance on institutional transformation aimed at recovery
orientation has been a great challenge. Many parts of the world have explicitly adopted recovery
approach as the best principle to guide mental health (Drake & Whitley,2014).
To implement the recovery principles, all the medical professionals have to realize what
it means living with the experience of a mental problem and understand what personal recovery
is all about. Recovery is highly individual and personal. The medical professionals should create
a good relationship with the patient. The idea should be to engage the client's trust and help them
to clearly understand recovery as an individual responsibility. Recovery personal journey and
therefore should direct the services and care given to the patient. Each client is expected to be the
expert of their own recovery.
The recovery process requires one to have an identity for it to be effective. An identity is
defined as something which enriches the inner being of a person. It affects how one views
himself/herself and how they relate to others. Identity allows sociability, good communication
and fosters self-worth. According to Sandy the more you do something the more self-confidence
you develop. She holds the view that treatment and recovery should be about restoring self-
esteem and getting something that develops the feeling of identity and self-worth. Treatment
should help the people find the creative spirit in them and understand their important position in
the world.it should help people have some meaning and purpose in life. Sandy Jeff found her

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purpose of life in poetry. She uses poetry to reach the outside world and communicate her ideas
and what she was going through. Through poetry, she got her identity. Writing the poems
consistently and persistently paid off well in her recovery from schizophrenia which she lived
with for more than thirty years. (Jeffs, & Leggatt,2014).
Based on the perspectives of the mental disorder patients, recovery is the gaining and
retaining understanding the individual's abilities, hope and engaging in an active social life in the
community. Mental health practice principles of recovery are meant to ensure that the services of
mental health care are given in a way that facilitates recovery.
The first principle is the uniqueness of an individual.it recognizes that recovery is all
about given the mental disorder patients the opportunities to live a satisfying, purposeful and
meaningful life. Sandy was given the opportunity when her first book was published. The
publication changed her life incredibly. She wrote more about her experience and found her
purpose in teaching the public how the people living with mental problems should be treated.
(Sheedy, & Whitter,2013).
Real choices are the second principle. It supports people to build on their own choices
and strengths and at the same time encouraging them to be responsible for their lives. It also
empowers people to choose how they want to lead their lives and acknowledges that the choices
must be creatively explored and meaningful. (Tew, et al 2012)
Partnership and communication acknowledge each person as an expert of their lives. The
patient work in partnership with the caregivers to provide services that are aimed at ensuring
recovery. In this principle, sharing of relevant information and clear communication are highly
valued to enable effective engagement and treatment (Williams, et al 2012).

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Evaluating the recovery ensures continuous evaluation at different levels. It enables the two
parties to understand the progress towards recovery. Quality and improved activities are
informed by the care experiences of the individual patients (Vecchi et al 2015)
Implementation of the recovery-oriented practice is facing some challenges but a
significant number of people around the globe are embracing it. Adopting the method means that
the focus is shifted from doing away with the symptoms to emphasize on helping the victims of
psychiatric disorders live fulfilling lives without any mental illness symptoms. Recovery
principles can be implemented by giving the client some hope, purpose and meaning of life.
They should be given the opportunity and support to do the right jobs. The friends and family
should be trained to help the patients of mental illness deal with the condition effectively, Sandy
confesses getting a lot of support from the friends which really paid off in her recovery (Gilburt,
et al2013).
In conclusion clinical and personal recovery is a team responsibility and each person
should be playing their part for positive results. The mental health professional should be able to
focus on the goals and help the patient do something substantial with their lives rather than just
dealing with the symptoms.

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