Recovery in schizophrenia: Reality or mere slogan

Abstract

As researchers have learned more about schizophrenia, recovery has become an increasingly prominent paradigm for understanding the goals of people with schizophrenia, and for guiding research and services for these individuals. This article provides a review of the recent literature on this topic, with consideration of both the outcome and process perspectives of recovery, and research that supports psychotherapeutic treatment for individuals recovering from schizophrenia. It concludes that schizophrenia can be overcome to varying degrees--some individuals may identify themselves as "fully recovered," whereas other individuals may be in a process of recovery for their entire lives. In the future, researchers should try to reconcile process and outcome perspectives of recovery, and advocate for recovery-oriented services for individuals with schizophrenia.

Assessing recovery from schizophrenia as an individual process. A review of self-report instruments

“…Deegan and Drake's [33] shared-decision making approach). However, the subjectivity inherent in personal recovery makes the objective measurement of recovery in individuals more challenging to assess [94]. Consequently, the construction of recovery instruments has become more complex.…”

The other side of recovery: validation of the Portuguese version of the subjective experiences of psychosis scale

“…In mental health policy this definition highlighted the importance of taking into account the patient’s subjective experiences, needs and preferences in evaluation and treatment [ 18 ]. However, its inherent subjectivity has made it more difficult to measure recovery adequately and to build these instruments [ 19 ].…”

Effectiveness of a program to facilitate recovery for people with long‐term mental illness in Japan

“…Historically, long-term mental illnesses such as schizophrenia has been regarded as a degenerative illnesses with an inexorable trajectory of decline and a pessimistic prognosis (Slopen & Corrigan, 2005). However, there has been increasing attention on the "recovery" model that focuses on the person with a pro-health, strength-based vision compared with the traditional treatment-based model that focuses on the illness (Roberts & Wolfson, 2004).…”

“…Because recovery has now become a central concept in mental health services and treatment in Western countries (Slopen & Corrigan, 2005), many programs have been developed to facilitate recovery, such as the Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) program (Mueser et al, 2006), the Recovery Workbook Program (Spaniol et al, 2009), and the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) (Copeland, 2001). Various intervention studies of such programs have supported their effectiveness (Barbic et al, 2009;Salyers et al, 2009;Starnino et al, 2010).…”