Strength in Mental Health Recovery

The inner strength of the consumer going through Recovery comes from many sources. There are material sources; housing, health care, transportation and a solid means of communication, one source being the telephone. This material gives the consumer, the mental health client, the ability to move forward in their Recovery. When stricken with poverty, there exist a lack of resources and there is no assurance in Recovery when a person is befallen with a mental illness, in essence there is no way for them to reach out.

Strength in Recovery involves a different dimension of responsibility; it involves associating with other people; being a member of the community. It means being connected to friends, neighbors, and family. Living in social and personal isolation, poverty, withdrawal, having poor social skills, poor health causes not only social stigma yet a stigma of self which slows the journey of Recovery and heightens a weakness within the consumer.

Though I am going through the Recovery process and becoming self sufficient; a recovered addict and alcoholic, not to mention being dual diagnosis, I still struggle with acceptance, even in the new neighborhood I live in. News travels fast when your striking it rich or you have done wrong and as I have had to find a way to be socially accepted, my inner strength seems to grow and not having many friends because of the changes I have made from old to new, I was not willing to be socially stagnant; I had to find my niche, being mentally ill, I had to grow in strength and know what to accept.

This all becomes a matter of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual and these aspects changed the way I see the Recovery process. I had to learn to become optimistic and see my life with a purpose. Finding strength in your Recovery is in essence gaining power and control over your life through a righteous choice, using the resources you have gained and learning to self manage your treatment, choosing how you see yourself and the quality of your life.
Written By Donald Sammons