Recovery from "schizophrenia" and other "psychotic disorders"

[Note:  The document below is just a part of the proposed consumer empowerment guidelines for Lane County.  I'm posting this separately here, because it is the part of the document that would be of most general interest.]

Recovery from many kinds of problems is affected by beliefs about the possibility of recovery.  Consider a hypothetical example of a person who has received an injury which affects the person’s ability to walk, but which is not necessarily permanently disabling if strong efforts are made to recover.  If the person is led by medical authorities to believe that the disability is permanent, efforts at rehabilitation will probably not be made, and the prediction may become a self fulfilling prophecy.  Since the disability at that point is a result of the inaccurate prediction rather than the injury itself, the disability becomes a medical system induced condition.

The mental health system faces the same kinds of issues.  In fact, none of the major mental health disorders have been shown to be reliably permanent, and no studies have shown mental health professionals being able to determine who will definitely have the disorder for the rest of their lives.[i]  For each disorder, at least a sizable minority are found to fully recover, without need of further medication or other mental health treatment.[ii]  Consumers who do recover typically credit others who helped them believe they could recover, and their own efforts at recovery, as essential parts of that recovery.[iii]

And yet, many consumers have been led to believe by the mental health system that they will always be “mentally ill” and that their need for treatment, in particular treatment by medication, will inevitably be lifelong as well.[iv]  More »

A lot of efforts to transform an often oppressive mental health have focused on “recovery” and making the mental health system more “recovery focused.” Many agencies have integrated the notion of recovery into their practice, and if the use of this word were a measure of progress, we would be well on our way to system transformation! Unfortunately, what seems to be happening is that as the word “recovery” is used more and more, it seems to mean less and less. I know someone for example who is on heavy doses of an antipsychotic as well as other medications, lives in a foster care home, and spends most of his daytime hours in a mental health day treatment program, yet is assured by his case managers that he is “recovered.”

More at this recovery page.