Recovery model

The recovery model, recovery approach or psychological recovery is an approach to mental disorder or substance dependence that emphasizes and supports a person's potential for recovery. Recovery is generally seen in this model as a personal journey rather than a set outcome, and one that may involve developing hope, a secure base and sense of self, supportive relationships, empowerment, social inclusion, coping skills, and meaning.^[1] Recovery sees symptoms as a continuum of the norm rather than an aberration and rejects sane-insane dichotomy.

William Anthony,^[2] Director of the Boston Centre for Psychiatric Rehabilitation developed a cornerstone definition of mental health recovery in 1993. "Recovery is a deeply personal, unique process of changing one's attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills and/or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations caused by the illness. Recovery involves the development of new meaning and purpose in one's life as one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of mental illness."^[3][4]

The concept of recovery in mental health emerged as deinstitutionalization led to more individuals living in the community. It gained momentum as a social movement in response to a perceived failure by services or wider society to adequately support social inclusion, coupled with studies demonstrating that many people do recover. A recovery-oriented approach has since been explicitly embraced as the guiding principle of mental health and substance dependency policies in numerous countries and states. Practical measures are being implemented in many cases to align services with a recovery model, although various obstacles, concerns, and criticisms have been raised by both service providers and recipients of services. Several standardized measures have been developed to assess different aspects of recovery, although there is some divergence between professionalized models and those originating in the psychiatric survivors movement.

According to a study, a combined social and physical environment intervention has the potential to enhance the need for recovery. However, the study's focus on a general healthy and well-functioning population posed challenges in achieving significant impact. The researchers suggested implementing the intervention among a population with higher baseline values on the need for recovery and providing opportunities for physical activity, such as organizing lunchtime walking or yoga classes at work. Additionally, they recommended strategically integrating a social media platform with incentives for regular use, linking it to other platforms like Facebook, and considering more drastic physical interventions, such as restructuring an entire department floor, to enhance the intervention's effectiveness. The study concluded that relatively simple environment modifications, such as placing signs to promote stair use, did not lead to changes in the need for recovery.^[5]