If you want to change your present symptoms, behaviours and beliefs for the better then recovery is for you. In the dictionary, recovery is described as restoration to a former or better condition. I think when it comes to recovery from mental illness there is no going back to your former self, it’s all about becoming a new person.
I think one of the first steps taken to begin recovery is accepting that life will be different and accepting you have an illness. We are not returning to our previous lives before illness, we are becoming someone who is equipped with skills to cope and thrive in a whole new way. We can’t undo what we’ve been through or live as we used to, we need to concentrate on finding new ways to get what we want out of life.
There are many aspects and parts to recovery. The best tool I’ve found to visually represent this is the recovery star. I worked with a recovery star myself when I was with CAMHS (children/adolescent mental health services). It helps you identify some goals which I think is great for motivation and checking your progress, however gradual in different parts of your life.
It’s also great for seeing patterns and how one part of recovery may affect another. For example, you could notice you are struggling with addiction because your relationships need a lot of improvement.
Becoming knowledgeable of your illness, triggers and emotions is so important. How can you recover if you don’t understand the illness? If you can I would suggest researching into your illness/ Read, listen or watch something that helps explain and inform. For example, I have complex post-traumatic stress disorder and recently picked up a copy of CPTSD Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. I highly recommend it if you struggle with trauma. Let me know if you would like full therapeutic book reviews and recommendations
Of course, you do not have to do all this on your own, creating a support network is key. A mix of friends, family and professionals such as a therapist or psychiatrist etc would be ideal. If you need some support check out the resources page for some links to amazing mental illness charities and services in the uk that could be a part of your network.
One more tip for starting recovery is to stop comparing your life to others even those with similar diagnoses or struggles. It’s important to remember recovery looks different for everyone as there is no one set way of recovering. We are all individuals and one way does NOT work for all!
The key is to keep persevering, trialling different therapeutic techniques or practices and not give up at the first hurdle you face. If you relapse it’s okay, recovery is not linear. Try not to slip into black-and-white thinking, just because you slip up doesn’t mean you have to go back to the beginning of your journey.
I hope this all made some sense. I haven’t written a blog post in a long time but I plan to continue and improve! Please feel free to leave a comment letting me know how you started recovery.
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