I have a space to ask, “how can I make it better?”
And, the side effect is, I ask the same question about my life/illness!
I wish I could say, with some amount of certainty, that it is possible to fully recover (under psychiatry’s thoughts on the subject).
But, I feel as though, there will be many ups and downs—no matter what I choose to believe!
I mean, that’s life, right?
Well, yes—but, when you’re talking about mental health issues—I think it goes beyond that!
I don’t want to sound negative, but I am aware enough to know that, yes, things could improve—maybe even a lot—but, will symptoms altogether vanish?
My experience is, “no, they won’t.”
That said, I’d love to hear from you, about your experiences with mental illness recovery!
Thanks in advance for sharing.
It actually surprises me a bit that the psychiatrists you’ve dealt with have kept pushing the idea of full recovery. The mindset I’ve seen more commonly within the field of psychiatry is that people with psychotic illnesses are essentially screwed for life.
LikeLike
Thank you for commenting. And, I am so exhausted by the notion of recovery TBH. I probably have a few posts in the cue. I don’t want to be combative though. From my perspective, recovery is quite problematic!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I believe that a certain vulnerability is going to be present, this may be bigger when your dealing with though times and maybe you can handle life’s challenges better when you’re feeling better. (by ‘you’ I mean ‘me’)
So I think mental illness is for life. Maybe people can make a full recovery when for example the psychotic episode is drug related and occurs once. Maybe when you have depression due to circumstances and those never resurface again … So in certain cases I think it is possible but that would be the minority I believe.
Some managing of symptoms and mental health will stay present imo.
LikeLike
This is helpful. It certainly reminds me that recovery is something that is very individualistic, and that it’s based on one’s psychiatric history in a notable way (for many people). Thanks for helping to explain this further. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The impression I’ve gotten from psychiatrists and therapists is that depression is something I will always have to deal with. However, through awareness, knowledge of my illness and good coping mechanisms, I can learn how to handle the symptoms better and maybe lessen them.
LikeLike
I can awareness and knowledge has made a difference (I can at least label my feelings and know what I’m fighting against.), but I’m still working on coping mechanisms. I hope this made sense
LikeLike
Good for you! Learning to better cope is extremely important with mental illness.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. I also find awareness important for understanding symptoms and managing them.
LikeLiked by 1 person