Four Keys to Mental Health Recovery
Four Keys to Mental Health Recovery
Mental illnesses can be crippling and demoralizing.
One can find endless advice on maintaining one's mental health and on
recognizing a mental illness, but today I would like to distill the critical
factors for mental health recovery into four succinct points. The four most
critical factors in mental health recovery are: housing, employment,
stabilization of medication and symptom interference, and the development of a
social network.
Housing is one of the most basic human needs,
regardless of whether one has a mental illness or is considered entirely
healthy. When one reviews the statistics, the rate of homeless individuals who
suffer from an untreated mental illness is positively alarming. What is even
worse is if these individuals cannot afford basic shelter, there is little hope
that they are receiving proper medications, meaning a continual downward spiral
is about to take place. Obtaining stable housing is likely the most important
factor for mental healthcare consumers on the road to recovery.
Now it is time to explore what practitioners and
consumers alike can do to obtain housing. For mental health practitioners, one
must focus upon finding affordable or government subsidized housing for the
mental healthcare consumer, ideally in a situation which removes them from
their immediate environment (as it is prone to lead to relapses or continued
substance abuses, etc.). Most major cities have government subsidized
low-income apartment complexes that you can look into for such consumers. For
the mental healthcare receiver, one must recognize that housing is critical to
almost every function in life and seeking out housing in a shelter is far
better than winding up on the streets. Also, an address will be required to
find employment and to receive social security insurance payments if the
qualifications for such payments are met, thus making housing crucial to mental
health recovery.
Once one finds housing, employment is essential on the
road to empowerment and self-sustainability. One point is critical however: do
not take on too much too fast. It is OK to re-enter the workforce slowly. Take
a part time position, adjust to that, and if you feel you are ready after a
month or two, take on a full-time position. This is also a great time to go
back to school if you have been looking into that. Anything with a technical
skill will put you in much better standing so lean towards that if you can.
For mental healthcare practitioners interested in
enrolling their consumers in higher education as part of their treatment plans,
a great place to guide them is into computer courses dealing with Microsoft
Access, Microsoft SQL, C++, Java, C#, or Python programming. Such jobs are in
huge demand, have good salaries, and can even be done remotely from home in
many situations.
With employment comes concern of money management. If
an individual with a mental illness cannot responsible manage their money, a
family member or treatment center fund should be given control of the
individual's funding. Now this is a very touchy subject so if a mental health
consumer is in fact relinquishing control of funding to insure no purchase of
illegal substances occurs, one must insure the controlling program is
reputable, in good standing, and competently managed.
Medication and symptom stabilization is the third of
the four keys to mental health recovery. The proper ratio of medications can
take time and does alter one's chemical and hormonal balances, thus can be a
rather painful process, but it is worth the battle. So many breakdowns are due
to mental health consumers going off their medications or improper medication
balances, which is a travesty considering the avoidability of said occurrences.
Take the time to find the right combination, this will allow for stabilization
of symptom interference levels, which will then contribute to one's ability to
maintain adequate employment therein ability to afford appropriate housing and
independence.
The fourth and final key to mental health recovery is
building a strong, proactive social network. Isolation and alienation are very
common among those with a mental illness who have experienced a severe
psychotic break. One must seek out a supportive network, be it consisting of
family, friends, or other individuals on the road to recovery from their own
mental illness. The American Clubhouse model for mental healthcare facilities
is great for finding an active social network. While some consumers complain
that such groups solely sit around and talk, over time this talking will turn
into productive, employment oriented endeavors. One must, however, remove
themselves from any social network that could contribute to a relapse of the
original mental condition.
Housing, employment, stabilization, and social network
development are the critical keys to mental health recovery. Housing drives
employment, employment makes housing affordable. Employment allows for the
ability to afford proper medications, which leads to stabilization.
Stabilization consequently aids employment, thus making housing an even greater
reality. All of this is dependent upon the loving support of a social network. These are the keys to mental health
recovery.
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