IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v69y2023i1p78-85.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Personal meaning of recovery among persons with schizophrenia

Author

Listed:
  • Shari Tess Mathew
  • Bergai Parthsarathy Nirmala
  • John Vijay Sagar Kommu

Abstract

Background: Recovery in mental illness is not synonymous with cure. Personal recovery approach consider recovery as a process and not as an outcome. This approach takes into account the subjective meaning of recovery by assessing how a person has learned to accommodate and live with an illness. Aim: To study the personal meaning of recovery among persons with schizophrenia. Method: This article presents the findings of a qualitative study about what ‘recovery’ means to persons with schizophrenia. A semi structured interview schedule was prepared based on literature review and expert opinion. Twenty participants who met the inclusion criteria and personally consider themselves recovering/recovered from schizophrenia were selected for the in-depth qualitative interviews. Data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Meaning of recovery from each participant’s perspective was recorded. Findings: The results indicate factors that patients deem important for their recovery are, absence of symptoms, regaining functioning, being able to work, having adequate emotional stability and not being on medicines. The findings are examined in the background of the previous studies and suggestions for clinical practice and research is also discussed. Conclusion: Recovery is far more than remission of symptoms. Persons with mental illness has their own criteria of recovery, which could be very distinct from the clinical definition. Current study findings can help in identifying meaning of recovery through the perspectives of persons with mental illness and in developing and implementing recovery-oriented services.

Suggested Citation

  • Shari Tess Mathew & Bergai Parthsarathy Nirmala & John Vijay Sagar Kommu, 2023. "Personal meaning of recovery among persons with schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(1), pages 78-85, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:1:p:78-85
    DOI: 10.1177/00207640211068370
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640211068370
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00207640211068370?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roger M.K. Ng & Veronica Pearson & May Lam & C.W. Law & Cindy P.Y. Chiu & Eric Y.H. Chen, 2008. "What Does Recovery From Schizophrenia Mean? Perceptions of Long-Term Patients," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 54(2), pages 118-130, March.
    2. Sailaxmi Gandhi & Diksy Jose & Geetha Desai, 2020. "Perspectives of consumers in India on factors affecting recovery from schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(1), pages 93-101, February.
    3. May M.L. Lam & Veronica Pearson & Roger M.K. Ng & Cindy P.Y. Chiu & C.W. Law & Eric Y.H. Chen, 2011. "What does recovery from psychosis mean? Perceptions of young first-episode patients," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(6), pages 580-587, November.
    4. Yulia Kartalova-O’Doherty & Donna Tedstone Doherty, 2011. "Recovering from mental health problems: Perceived positive and negative effects of medication on reconnecting with life," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(6), pages 610-618, November.
    5. Subhashini Gopal & Greeshma Mohan & Sujit John & Vijaya Raghavan, 2020. "What constitutes recovery in schizophrenia? Client and caregiver perspectives from South India," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(2), pages 118-123, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sailaxmi Gandhi & Diksy Jose & Geetha Desai, 2020. "Perspectives of consumers in India on factors affecting recovery from schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(1), pages 93-101, February.
    2. Jonathan Han Loong Kuek & Toby Raeburn & Melissa Yan Zhi Chow & Timothy Wand, 2023. "Lived experiences of mental health conditions in Singapore: A constructivist grounded theory study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(3), pages 735-743, May.
    3. Subhashini Gopal & Greeshma Mohan & Sujit John & Vijaya Raghavan, 2020. "What constitutes recovery in schizophrenia? Client and caregiver perspectives from South India," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(2), pages 118-123, March.
    4. May M.L. Lam & Veronica Pearson & Roger M.K. Ng & Cindy P.Y. Chiu & C.W. Law & Eric Y.H. Chen, 2011. "What does recovery from psychosis mean? Perceptions of young first-episode patients," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(6), pages 580-587, November.
    5. Vaios Peritogiannis & Afroditi Gogou & Maria Samakouri, 2020. "Very long-term outcome of psychotic disorders," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(7), pages 633-641, November.
    6. Samson Tse & Larry Davidson & Ka-fai Chung & Chong Ho Yu & King Lam Ng & Emily Tsoi, 2015. "Logistic regression analysis of psychosocial correlates associated with recovery from schizophrenia in a Chinese community," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 61(1), pages 50-57, February.
    7. Abdalhadi Hasan & Mahmoud Musleh, 2017. "The impact of an empowerment intervention on people with schizophrenia: Results of a randomized controlled trial," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(3), pages 212-223, May.
    8. Anthony R. Henderson, 2011. "A substantive theory of recovery from the effects of severe persistent mental illness," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(6), pages 564-573, November.
    9. Daniel Kim-Wan Young & Petrus Yat-Nam Ng, 2016. "The prevalence and predictors of self-stigma of individuals with mental health illness in two Chinese cities," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(2), pages 176-185, March.
    10. Yulia Kartalova-O’Doherty & Donna Tedstone Doherty, 2011. "Recovering from mental health problems: Perceived positive and negative effects of medication on reconnecting with life," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(6), pages 610-618, November.
    11. Roger M. K. Ng & Veronica Pearson & Yin Wan Pang & N. S. Wong & N. C. Wong & F. M. Chan, 2013. "The uncut jade: Differing views of the potential of expert users on staff training and rehabilitation programmes for service users in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 59(2), pages 176-187, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:1:p:78-85. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.