Personal Recovery in People with Mental Disorders: The Achievement of a Meaningful Life

The importance of personal recovery in mental health has grown in recent years: recovery is seen as a way to live a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life despite limitations caused by mental illness. It involves various aspects such as self-management, personal productivity, and community engagement. The adoption of recovery perspectives by mental health services is a significant development in the field, focusing on the individual’s agency and empowering them to take an active role in their recovery journey. Factors promoting personal recovery include personal agency, family support, structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors. Exercise, nature, and socially interactive-based initiatives can improve mood and self-esteem; family psychoeducation can benefit family bonds and increase access to social and practical support, while digital technology can play a significant role in providing access to resources and enhancing treatment adherence. Relapse prevention in mental illness is crucial for maintaining stability: early intervention, medication adherence, and psychosocial interventions are key factors. On the other hand, stigma, lack of community support, lack of acceptance of one’s self and limitations, and the presence of psychiatric symptoms can hinder recovery. Personal recovery in major depressive disorder (MDD) is an example of a recovery-oriented approach to mental disorders. Full functional recovery is a condition where patients can resume their usual activities, return to employment, and care for themselves. Personal recovery is the ultimate goal of treatment, involving accepting mental illness, discovering hope for the future, re-establishing a positive identity, developing meaning in life, taking control of one’s life, and overcoming stigma.