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MH Home > Recovery > Bits of Wisdom

Recovery - Bits of Wisdom

Quotes of panelists at the 2001 conference

  • The dynamic nature of Recovery means it changes over time. It's not static. Recovery is not a process that can be predicted by drawing a straight line from this point forward. Indeed Recovery moves forward and backward. Recovery moves along various curves."

  • "Recovery is something that traditional providers may understand and participate, when invited, but Recovery is an issue for those in recovery"

  • "Recovery is personal. Honesty is essential. Priorities need to change."

  • "When you block out the bad, you also block out the good."

  • "The measure at Recovery is in the ability to give and receive love."

  • "If someone had told me that day that I would have to eat pickles every day for the rest of my life to stay sober, I would be eating pickles today......."

  • "Recovery starts with several kinds of acceptance:
      Acceptance of the realities of my illness and personal situation,
      Acceptance of the availability of support, and
      Acceptance of the hope that change and growth are possible."

  • "Recovery continues with recognition of both setbacks and successes and the knowledge that there is movement there is always hope for change."

  • "Recovery creates and thrives on:
      A sense of community,
      Enhanced respect for ourselves and each other, and
      Appreciation of all our strength and beauty, even the smallest."

  • "I believe recovery is an ongoing process, much like the tides, it ebbs and wanes. If you follow the road along the ocean, you will find the tides at different levels or places in time. I think the same is true with recovery, you can be in crisis one day and, by using your skills and reaching out for support, the crisis can be just a memory the next day."

  • " I don't mean it to make it sound easy, it's not. I can choose to remember the pain from the past, or I can choose to release what I have believed I have been and done."

  • "There are no magic wands and there are no magic pills, but there is me and my resolve."

  • "Recovery is an individual process yet I do not have to do it alone. It is a process where I am allowed to do stupid thing like normal people. From as far back as I can remember others wrote my future for me. I write it now. My recovery is my empowerment. I can't have it if I am not allowed to be included in it."

  • "My story is my story. I am a human being with feelings that will not be mainstreamed, normalized or pitied. I am no longer a question in search of an answer."

  • "My recovery has taught me that I am teachable everyday. Recovery has also taught me that I have a lot to teach because I have lived it."

  • "The most important information to be imparted to professionals about the recovery process is that it is not simple one. It does not lend itself to best practice models or simplification into a set of protocols. Each individual must discover that which will give meaning and understanding to their lives. Meaning for consumers of mental health services is as complex a process as it is for everyone else."

  • "Recovery doesn't necessarily mean that my life got better, it met that I could handle life on life's term so my ability to handle life got better."

  • "If recovery wasn't better than using - why bother? Have fun!"

  • "Find something you can be passionate about - remember things you love to do."

  • "Recovery from trauma is ongoing and sustained. The key to recovery is recognizing our own strengths and seeking out supportive relationships. There is no shame in utilizing all and any "treatments"."

  • "The system has failed some people in that they don't realize that there is a recovery process for mental illness, substance abuse. Discuss the failure of some psychiatrists to treat their clients as capable of improvement, and also treat people as though they have some insight to their own needs for recovery."

  • "Above all, keep it simple. Most of us are not rocket scientists and their success rate is not too good anyway in my experience."

  • "When I could not get out of bed, I said to myself, I can't go on this way. It is either death or recovery. I chose recovery. I had to roll out of bed onto the floor and crawl to the door and grab the doorknob and get up."

  • "An abusive beginning can be changed. You can develop the tools to overcome. Your recovery may be your greatest career."

  • "I disagree with the use of the word recovery. Life is about rebuilding after a set back and rediscovering who you are, what you are lacking for skills, how to attain them, building new hopes and dreams for the future."

  • "It is either "fly or die". I suffered from depression from 12 - 35 years of age. Mainly from not knowing how to deal with feelings."

  • "The importance of letting people see our "cracks" as well as our successes. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."