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Recovery
The fundamental issue is that it is seen as recovery from a medical condition or a social problem of your consequence. The politics are often denied or trivialised by workers and carers. The recoverer themselves at this stage often has little or no knowledge of the politics of madness or the historical perspective of psychiatry
Thriving
Thriving is a political act. The person who is thriving has often begun to develop knowledge around the politics of madness and psychiatric history, and a desire for the political act of thriving to be recognised. The person’s experiences and the process of recovery and thriving are seen and understood in a socially political context.
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Recovery
Service User, Service Avoider – still uses terminology of the professionals and often aligns with their thinking. Often popular with workers and other service users as not too challenging
Thriving
Expert by experience, emancipated, psycho-warrior – refuses to play the game of the professionals. Often thrivers are unpopular with workers and service users, as they are seen to be radicals and too challenging to the system.
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Recovery
A desire for justice is perceived and is a motivating energy. Trying to get justice is seen as the way forward in your own healing and wellness.
Thriving
There is recognition of injustice for self and a consequent determination to help others in order to live well with these injustices. Living life well is often seen as the way forward. It is not powerless acceptance or fatalism it is more a “Sod it, I’m getting on with my life” mentality
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Recovery
Many people still have links, even if tenuous ones to mental health services – counselling, therapy, medication, support groups
Thriving
Thriving necessitates emancipation from the whole of the mental health system. It states a belief that the self possesses all the tools now required for wellness and wellbeing – support from natural links, work, friendships, hobbies, interests outside of mental health services Any contact with services is to change them, to work within them, and if so doing, not to participate in them in a way that validates a corrupt model. Thrivers often create cells of resistance and insurgence.
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Recovery
There is still, at some level, often an acceptance of the medical model, labelling and “illness entity”
Thriving
Total rejection of the reductionism of any singular reductionist model, fundamental belief that “I was never ill or mad”, it was what happened to me that was mad! The disorders are abstract concepts!
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Recovery
There is a shift of emphasis from pathology deficits and illness to strengths and wellness
Thriving
There is an underlying belief and commitment that pathology and illness play no part in recovery
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Recovery
Many people may continue to take medication, and for them that may be a choice
Thriving
To thrive means rejecting the need for long term medication as a crutch and involves making changes elsewhere to accommodate difficulties that arise as a natural rhythm of life’s ups and downs
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Recovery
Recovery entails working towards understanding aspects of self and understanding self in context to the distress
Thriving
A person who is thriving has totally examined, explored, understood and accepted aspects of self however difficult or painful, and learned “who I am” and “who I am not!”
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Recovery
Although starting to take responsibility others are often in control or responsibility is shared- for instance parents or partners
Thriving
The thriver recognises the importance of ownership and that full responsibility lies with the individual. They assert their autonomy from families and others in decision making
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Recovery
The individual, for a variety of reasons may prefer to remain on incapacity benefits, disability living allowance or other subsidies.
Thriving
Thriving essentially accepts a work ethos, requires the fulfilment of contributing to the community through work, rejects subsidies and seizes opportunities for work
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Recovery
May set limitations “I can do this, but not that...”
Thriving
Willing to meet any new challenges, however difficult or painful or frightening
“The recoverer walks tentatively up the hill. The thriver strides out, singing as he goes”
Marion Aslan 2008
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Recovery
There may be a sense of loss or regret concerning past difficulties and distress, a feeling that one has recovered but that life has been unkind
Thriving
To thrive means to embraces life because of what has been accomplished personally because of past difficulties, happy that the experience has made the person who they now are
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