Message from the Superintendent (May 16, 2008)

“What we actually learn, from any given set of circumstances, determines whether we become increasingly powerless or more powerful.” - Blaine Lee

Sometimes we use the term “Recovery Philosophy” or “Recovery Orientation” without deeply considering what does it mean? What beliefs are inherent in delivering “Recovery Services”?

Recovery from Mental Illness is a beginning, not an ending. The universal questions, “Why me”? “Now what”? And “Who am I now”? Are all part of the journey to recovery.

There is a distinction to be made between curing symptoms and helping a person to achieve a life worth living. The first is interventionist. The latter a restorative approach. “You can never go home again” is a true statement. It’s not because home is different; it’s because you’re different. Home is that place as you remember it. Home is a memory. Memories are in the past and will forever be there. Persons affected by mental illness do not benefit from treatment to become who they were. They benefit to become more then who they were. That “more” involves learning about one’s self and incorporating that knowledge into the life they will live. This is what “Recovery” is about.

Recovery oriented mental health systems are a relatively new shift in services. They focus on the life of the person, not just the presence of an illness. Let’s talk more about what recovery and why it is the better approach to treating these, very treatable, health conditions.

Recovery oriented mental health services represent a distinct array of service approaches that add to the traditional symptom relief orientation of psychiatric hospitalization. Beyond, the focus on self directed care, distilling hope, defining personal life quality attaining self selected roles, improved functioning, utilizing recovery models (peer specialists), is the developing personnel meaning from experience of having a mental illness.

Personal narratives which increase awareness, understanding and support the growth of the individual are crucial to the process of recovery. Assisting extracting this meaning from this life experience is a challenging undertaking all too frequently ignored by the mental health professional in the past. Worth discussing, as a deep human concern is the identity affect of the illness.

A principle of recovery is that while adversity affects everyone, it is possible to grow and learn from it. People can and do become stronger emotionally, more resilient and more mature as an outcome of loss, pain and suffering. Maturity is it’s self difficult to develop without undergoing suffrage and overcoming obstacles. Caring still involves the relief of unnecessary pain and suffering.

An additional powerful and much-needed dimension to the process of healing is learning and growing. This approach fosters a positive attitude even in the most heart-rending situations. By focusing on both inner and external sources of strength, calm can replace anxiety and hope can replace despair. Recovery is concerned with people finding meaning and purpose in their lives. Developing a sense of belonging and of community.

Viewed from the spiritual perspective, recovery is a process or journey of discovery and development, during which personal growth is gained through, in part, adversity. To deny this, only being interested in relief of suffering through removal of symptoms, is to impoverish the experience. We are all the sum of our experiences. Good and bad.

The medical model is a target centered model. Symptoms and causes of symptoms are targeted to be eliminated. This approach is quick and effective for many acute health aliments. Most of us reach for an aspirin when we have a headache (and are thankful for its predictable affect). Persistent or lasting conditions are ones which a person’s focus or concerns shift to how the illness has an impact on their life, their dreams, and their capacity to have a purpose. These concerns transcend and overwhelm the idea of symptoms alone. Recovery, (from anything) is person focused as opposed to illness focused.

The start to recovery lies in the person affected seeing the opportunity to grow, not just exist with the illness. Recovery never flourishes when the individual is busy recalibrating expectations to lower possibilities because of loss. More helpful to persons in recovery from these situations is stepping back from the symptoms and begin to view the illness as something that has meaning. In fact, some would argue finding meaning in illness is both desirable and essential. In the best of circumstances we may be strengthened by the illness. Trying to learn from the illness while still trying to get rid of the symptom (curing and learning) are not mutually exclusive. Recovery focuses moving towards discovering meaning, understanding, (and yes I will dare to say it) even value from the experience.

I hope this provides a context for you to consider while doing the important work that each of you do here at Riverview. Your work is valuable. It has great purpose. Relieving pain, and suffering. Helping those in need to have a life of meaning and value. Thank you for your good work here at Riverview.

In Service,
David S. Proffitt

“It does not matter how deep you fall, what matters is how high you bounce back.” - Anoy

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Message from the Superintendent (May 16, 2008)