Recovery from mental health issues is difficult but not impossible. There are steps you can take to help heal. Our definition of recovery is to live a meaningful life. What is a meaningful life will depend on the individual person? Moreover, Definitions of recovery will vary depending on what result you (personally) want to achieve.
Below are some suggested steps that may help in personal recovery:
- Thinking more positively.
- Feeling part of the local community. Working with others to achieve a goal.
- Achieving something that you found difficult to do. Such as getting out of the house.
- Being able to have a healthy friendships and relationships.
- Feeling settled with your treatment plan.
- Feeling in more control of your emotions.
- Having a better social life.
- Taking steps to get closer to where you would like to be.
- Having hope for the future.
If you are seriously thinking about trying to recover, please remember the journey to recovery is Not the same for everyone. However, most people go through these five steps mentioned below in the journey to recovery. It might help you to identify where you are at in the process if you have started or want to start.
- Pre-contemplation stage
- Typically, people have not admitted there is a problem at this stage
- Contemplation stage
- At this stage a person thinks about potential courses of action to take.
- Preparation Stage
- At this stage a person plans a course of recovery/action.
- Action Stage
- At this stage a person enacts their plan for recovery
- Maintenance Stage
- At this stage a person goes back to their usual surroundings hopefully with a different outlook on life. It is easy to relapse at this stage as time goes on. However a person must be committed to recovery if they want things to truly change.
We cannot provide you with your definition of a meaningful life or provide you with specific actions you should take to achieve a meaningful life. Instead, this brief article recommends some actions you can take to help guide you through the process.
