The importance of “personal medicine” in recovery from mental illness

In this paper, I am going to demonstrate that medication is not the only means to deal with mental illness and a person with mental health problem is not merely a helpless victim or passive recipient of service. Through in-depth case studies of the lived experiences of persons with depression, the importance and positive contribution of “personal medicine” to their recovery are revealed. As explained by Patricia Deegan (2010), “pill medicine” is “what you take” while “personal medicine” is “what you do.” Personal medicine is the activity that gives life meaning and purpose. It is also self-initiated, non-pharmaceutical, self-care strategies that serve to avoid or decrease psychiatric symptoms, to avoid undesirable outcomes, such as going back to the hospital, and to improve mood, cognition, behavior and overall well-being (Deegan, 2007).With case illustrations, I will show what Rapp and Goscha (2012) insist that the people we work with have the ability to effect their own recovery. On the contrary, we professionals do not have the ability to make people recover. With their own active self-help, persons with depression are able to lead a meaningful, fulfilling and self-determined life. They are experts in their life situations and are the directors of their own recovery. They are not only psychiatric survivors but also heroes. The two recovery stories I presented will remind us mental health practitioners of the need to seriously examine if we are adopting a person-centred, strengths-based, recovery-oriented and client-led approach to facilitate our service users to achieve their recovery goals with the use of their own strengths and the resources in their environments.