How Do You Recover From Mental Illness?
• Imagine a nightmare. Have you ever awakened in a terror, only to realize that the horrifying fate you had just witnessed was only a nightmare? How would life be different if nightmares were real? Perhaps there would be no more tomorrows, where you could continue to live with those you love and continue to do what you love doing. Zap—you awaken, and life and its beauty come back to you. • Equate this nightmare with mental illness. Mental illness is like a nightmare. Recovering from mental illness is like wakening to find ourselves once again fulfilling our roles in life successfully. Recovery does not change the fact that an illness occurred, and that symptoms of the illness may even be present. However, recovery frees us from believing we don’t count because we are crazy and irrational. It puts our repertoire of “can’ts” in the background, and reminds us of the many options for the good life that are available to us. Recovery allows us to shed the sick role and use sound thinking to
