Beyond psychiatry: understanding my own human experience

Abstract

I now come from the very firm belief that people can and do recover, that people are not defined by illness or diagnosis. I also believe that we need to look at people as a whole. Two years ago, however, I was firmly convinced that I was defined by my illness and limited by my diagnosis. I was told I could not live the life that I wanted and that I would need medication forever. I was never told I could recover. My journey was not an easy one and there were many occasions when I wanted to give up. Throughout my journey I discovered the importance of understanding my human experience thus far and how past events and experiences have shaped me into the person I am today. The story of recovery is still not a common enough story, but the possibilities of recovery are endless! Recovery is much more than becoming stable; it’s about bettering who you are and finding meaning. Recovery was made possible for me by people having hope that I could find myself again; people seeing past the so-called illness and seeing something in me, something worthwhile. My story is common. It is not extraordinary in any way.

Keywords:

• Recovery
• Hearing voices
• mental health
• Lived experience