I was reading about recovery in schizophrenia. And, quite honestly, there is a lot that doesn’t add up.
One site on the subject says that 25% of first episode psychotic break, go on to recover.
On the same site, they say that another 25% go on to almost completely recover after a first episode psychotic break.
I’m sorry, but I feel like someone is lying!
No one with severe mental illness works harder to be more functional than me, and I do it with meds, I do it with a schedule, and I do it lacking a great amount of energy.
I just don’t feel like an almost full recovery can be accomplished in the majority of cases after a first psychotic break.
And, for those who don’t know, the other 50% do not recover in any marked way, according to these types of sites.
So, I ask myself, who has the most to benefit from lying?
And, the answer is simple.
The organizations that promote wellness and recovery have more to gain from touting around bad statistics than the individuals doing their best, living with these diseases, day in and day out.
If you have severe mental illness, I don’t suggest handing in the towel or quitting, but I will caution those who will listen… it takes a lot of work to get where even I am, and I am far from being recovered.
I hope this post is received in the spirit it was intended.
Have a nice day/eve!
Can i ask what recovery means to you? I’ve struggled with the idea of recovery for a few years now. I’m still trying to figure out what it means in relation to mental health. I lean towards its impossible to be without it at all.. like recovering from a surgery. I’m fearful the mental health community puts all this stock into something unattainable as the gold standard to a great life. Alter all of you had a physical ailment like thyroidism you’d have to take meds most likely for life and never be recovered right?
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I take meds but I am symptomatic. That’s partially why recovery and thinking about recovery (in mental health) is so difficult for me. I like to engage though, so if you have further ideas, I am listening.
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I don’t have further ideas as i to take my meds… try to be a better person etc… and am still symptomatic that why i question if true recovery is possible. You can’t just abstain from your mental health if that makes sense and i do ensuring i think is “right” but i still find myself in the midst of it all
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Yeah, I know. I love to to and also take my meds. Recovery, to me, is something that’s touted around, and I guess that some people have more success than others. For me, I don’t think I will get there. I have too much going on, so I settle on just trying to be as well as I can be.
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I would be curious to know exactly what studies they were getting those figures from, and what definitions they were using. In general, though, the whole concept of early psychosis intervention is that the earlier and more intensively you intervene, the more likely (in relative terms) it will be that the patient will have a better long-term prognosis. Poor response to treatment early on and/or a long delay to getting treatment means more time spent psychotic, which is bad for the brain and bad for the prognosis.
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I agree about the studies. I had a psychiatrist say that with schizophrenia, it’s the rule of thirds, which I may butcher, but… it says 33% make a full recovery, 33% make a perils recovery, and 33% don’t recover at all. I wasn’t sure how to take that when it was presented to me, and now I am even more confused. lol. But, I also may have messed up the saying too!
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Personally, I find that the concept of recovery, like resilience, suffers from the same problem. Mental health literature often use these words but what they mean exactly is often unclear, this can be problematic and leads to unrealistic expectations.
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Yeah, it’s problematic. I mean, who doesn’t want to be well? And, some of us, who can, do work for it!
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This seems like an ongoing issue with mental health-related stats and figures – it’s hard to ignore the fact that this is an industry that relies on people who need meds and services. Either way it’s misleading, and I’m glad you can caution people and let them know that sometimes you have to put in more work than what your doctors or therapists tell you.
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Every positive and helpful word can make a difference! Thank you.
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