What Makes a House a Home: The Role of Material Resources in Recovery from Severe Mental Illness

ABSTRACT

Informants in the present study identified poverty, unemployment, substandard living conditions and homelessness as being among the major struggles they faced within their recoveries from psychosis and depression. In considering the benefits of material resources, many informants discussed the notion of having a home, referring to it as a place for growth, development, and control; a means for balancing the need for socializing with privacy; and having a place to long for and dream about. All informant narratives suggested the importance of having a secure base from which to launch efforts towards recovery. By contrast, informants varied in their explanations of what transforms the physical structure of a house or an apartment, into a place that feels like a home.

Notes

1 Swedish krona = .15 American dollars

^#Affiliation reflects lead author.