What is recovery?
This is how Hafal Members describe recovery:
Can anyone recover from mental illness? Yes. is for everybody. Some people may not get completely better but everyone can make important improvements to their lives. Hafal Members have found that recovery depends on three key things:
Taking control
To recover, you need to be in the driving seat. Other people can help you along your journey. But you need to be at the wheel!
Hafal Members have found that in order to recover they needed to take control of their own lives. In practice this means making your own choices and acting on those choices. There are many ways you can take control of your recovery. These are just some examples:
- Deciding your own future.
- Giving your opinions.
- Making sure your voice is heard.
- Feeling you are equal to everyone else.
Being in control doesn't mean doing everything on your own. Family, friends and health professionals can support you. But it's important that you take the steering wheel and make choices about where you want to go!
For more information please go to: www.hafal.org/hafal/recovery.php ^top
Planning Ahead
Hafal Members have found that planning for the future is key to recovery. We've found that the best way to do this is to think of recovery as a journey:
- Think about where you are in your life right now.
- Think about where you want to get to. What are the goals you want to achieve?
- Think about the steps you need to take towards those goals.
Planning ahead and having goals helps you focus on getting better – and gives you ambition for an improved quality of life.
One of our Members said: "For me the first step towards getting better was writing down where I wanted to be in a year's time. As soon as I had that vision I felt I had something to work towards."
For more information please go to: www.hafal.org/hafal/recovery.php ^top
Looking at all areas of your life
Recovery means exploring all areas of your life and making improvements.
Hafal Members have found that recovery isn't only about getting the right treatment. It's about setting goals for improvement in all areas. For example, getting a job or finding a new place to live may be an important step towards a better quality of life.
These are the areas we think you need to cover as you plan ahead:
When planning your future, we advise that you look at all these areas in turn.
For more information please go to: www.hafal.org/hafal/recovery.php ^top