'I have to get really honest with me' : findings on recovery from mental illness

The primary focus in present day psychiatry on symptoms and their neurobiological basis, although of significant, is now increasingly viewed as insufficient (Hoffman et al., 2000). There has been a conceptual shift to view people with serious mental illness as consumers rather than patients, and to appreciate the need to understand their views as essential to the recovery process (Torgalsboen 2001). Psychosocial issues associated with care and recovery are now posited as of core significance (Yanos et al., 2001).

Consequently, increasingly there are calls in the literature for in-depth information on appropriate psychosocial care for individuals coping with a mental illness (Fenton & Schooler, 2000; Heinssen et al., 2000). As one response to these calls, this article presents insights gathered from an Australian qualitative research project with the primary aim of exploring factors that contribute to recovery in mental illness from a consumer’s perspective. Further findings from the study (McGrath et al., 2007), highlight many negative aspects of the drug imperative within the Australian psychiatric system. The present article focuses on the findings associated with consumers’ strategies for recovery that are not dependent on drug therapy.