Recovery: A complete mental health perspective

Abstract

Distinct views of the recovery experience prevail in the literature, including divergent opinions about how to define and measure recovery outcomes. This chapter proposes that the study, and the process, of recovery can be augmented by adopting the model of mental health as a complete state. Based on this model, recovery is viewed as flourishing in life in spite of having a mental illness and relies on two complementary experiences, the restoration from mental illness and the optimization of positive mental health. Six pathways to complete mental health in recovery are proposed, which result from the combination of mental illness and positive mental health outcomes. Directions for future research are suggested, including a better understanding of the potential role of flourishing in reducing the person's vulnerability to mental illness.