When Your Recovery Is Frustratingly Slow

It seems like you’ve been ill forever. For weeks, maybe months, it has felt like a major effort to do life. On a good day, you might muddle through. On not so good days, it’s hard to get out of bed, much less shower or get to work. Major mental illness has knocked you down and out. Worse, it seems like you aren’t getting any better. Hold onto the fact that long term studies have shown that most people diagnosed with even the most severe forms of mental illness at least get relief from symptoms. The NIMH Collaborative Depression Study of people diagnosed with major depression found that the recovery rate after two years was about 80%. That increased to 94% after 15 years. Other studies of patients with schizophrenia found that from 27 – 68% significantly improved. From 60 – 90% of those with significant anxiety have been found to respond to treatment. In most cases, people either go into extended remissions or recover completely. You can too. However, it is important to be realistic. Recovery does take time and rarely happens in a straight line. It’s often helpful to see it as a journey through stages, from getting some relief from the most painful symptoms to living a satisfying life with a sense of personal control over relapse. If you are in the midst of an acute episode, it’s essential to let the people who love you provide the emotional scaffolding and practical help you need to move from just getting through another day to having the motivation to ma...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Medications Mental Health and Wellness Recovery Sleep Source Type: blogs