[ScarletPimpernel]

Someone mentioned "recovery" in their post, and it reminded me of this article my ex-counselor posted on fb:

5 Reasons I Wish We Would Stop Talking About 'Recovery' for Serious Mental Illness And the Word I Wish We Would Use Instead | Liza Long

[MindfulMoment]

Thanks ScarletPimPernel, the article is very interesting.

I suppose the confusion with the word recovery is that it is individual to each person.

Recovery for me is the hope that I'll be able to do the things which I wish to do in life and enjoy them without OCD, or PTSD (or whatever acronym these Ts choose to pin on my next) hijacking the ship so to speak. I remember a life where anxiety and rituals did not dominate everything, I remember being able to work and meet up with friends with ease, I remember being anxious, but still being able to do the things which I love. Recovery for me is being able to do those things again, despite having some of the symptoms of my disorders. I like what the writer said about hope. My hope is that I reach my own recovery .

MM

[growlycat]

I like this article-thanks for posting.

Could you imagine if the same moral judgement was placed on those with cancer? That recovery is a choice?

I hate all of those buzzwords anyways like survivor and such. Sure many have it harder than others but if you are alive you are a survivor. What makes one's journey more worthy of praise than other's? Who makes that call?

I don't agree that "recovery" necessarily implies choice, though. In most instances, people do not talk about "choosing recovery". And "hope" is a bad alternative, especially when she says, in her last sentence, "I choose hope" - like that isn't stigmatising! "What is wrong with you that you cannot choose hope?" - even worse than to choose recovery! In addition, the meanings of the two words are so far apart that in most instances you simply can't exchange one for the other - because you don't have hope in a vacuum, you hope for something. Most likely for recovery.

I get what she means, and yes, it would be nice with less uninformed blathering from uninformed people about how a patient will get better if they will only decide to do so, as if mental illness is a moral failing. I just don't agree with her choice of words. Semantics are important, after all.

[Skywalking]

I hate the word "recovery" as applied to mental illness. Along with "healing" I consider it a useless buzzword that nonetheless sets an arbitrary expectation on people. That can't help but be damaging. I don't think "hope" is a better replacement though - just another buzzword to mean "I'm dealing with my crazy, so please treat me like a human being."