Personal Recovery Journey

The recovery journey of a mental health consumer can be the most challenging time of a person’s life. We may find it difficult to understand the struggles, feelings and thoughts of a consumer if we have never required the use of a mental health service ourselves. This essay will use my personal recovery plan, mini-journey and the experiences I’ve shared with my supporters to help demonstrate the importance of the consumer perspective. During this essay I will use relevant literature in conjunction with my own understanding to validate the weight of consumer driven recovery. I will evaluate what I found to be more and less beneficial to my mini-journey and compare it to that of a mental health consumer’s journey. This essay will outline the

factors that negatively and positively impacted my motivation and overall success. Ultimately, we are all striving to provide the best recovery orientated practice, and I believe this essay will assist in making this goal more attainable by putting consumer challenges into perspective. (Catherine Hungerford, 2014) (Australia, 2013)

The intention of undertaking a personal mini-journey was to fundamentally provide a subjective understanding of the day-to-day challenges consumers might face throughout their recovery.

It was also extremely effective in outlining the importance of the consumer perspective and the overall value of recovery orientated mental health practice. (CQU, 2015)

The area of my life that I chose to make a positive change in was my inability to be wise with money. This element of my life was something I had intended to work on for quite some time, and this mini-journey was the perfect way to kick-start my goal. I found this process to be exceptionally successful, but it didn’t come without its challenges.

When I began my mini-journey I considered myself to be in a good starting position for achieving my overall goal of saving money and paying off my debts. Even though I had been a compulsive buyer of materialistic items for over a decade, and hadn’t managed to save a cent, I was in complete realization of this. I knew what steps I had to take to break this cycle forever. When I recognized how much easier my journey would be compared to a consumer of lower socioeconomic status it had an enormous impact on my outlook. There are so many independent factors that may hinder a consumer’s recovery journey such as their employment, exposure to a traumatic event, economic and social status, drug addiction and living conditions. (Meyer, Castro-Schilo, & Aguilar-Gaxiola, 2014) As I am not faced

with any of these problems I couldn’t help but feel tremendous empathy for those who must overcome such hurdles. (HIMH, 2007) (NSW, 2015)

We were given the initial task of enlisting supporters and establishing a personal recovery plan. For my mini-journey I asked one of my classmates and my family members to assist me as supporters. I consulted with my supporters very briefly on my recovery plan as I already had a solid strategy in mind. Even though there were a few helpful tips added such as, consulting a financial adviser and alternate bank accounts, I still chose to develop the plan predominantly on my own. I actually had a great deal of fun with this element as I got the opportunity to put all my thoughts and ideas onto paper in a creative manner.

One of the major things I found to be of significant importance was the undeniable power balance difference between myself and my chosen support persons, compared to the balance between a consumer and a nurse. As my supporters and myself are all in the military, of similar ages and socioeconomic statuses, the power variance was almost nonexistent. The only tangible difference I felt was that they were both superior to me when managing their finances. For this reason alone, I found it extraordinarily challenging to confide in them due to embarrassment and shame. I didn’t feel as though they would understand where I was coming from because they are both excellent with money, have savings and even own a home. When I considered what it might be like for a consumer to rely on a nurse for support, I realized how arduous it would be for a person struggling with a drug addiction or mental illness. One would assume a nurse wouldn’t be living in extreme poverty or have a drug addiction, therefore it’s understandable why a consumer with these types of problems may feel insecure or judged when seeking support.

Throughout my research I read an article that explored the main key themes expressed by consumers that posed as barriers to their recovery. Some of the common problems expressed were, negative experiences and relationships with staff, a lack of trust and feelings they weren’t listened to or treated according to their individual needs. Statements were made such as, “I really wish that some of the staff, particularly psychiatrists, made more of an effort to not categorize people, to not just judge someone without any effort to understand” and “Unless I’m believed, I’m not going to get proper treatment”. (Happell, 2008, p. 125) I found these testimonies in conjunction with my own findings to have an enormous impact on the way I will provide my nursing care in the future.

The relationship I shared with my supporters throughout my mini-journey was for the most part a positive one.

I received some really advantageous encouragement from my family member such as a new money tin to save all my spare change in, and my classmate was always available to contact if I wanted to consult about a purchase. Throughout my mini-journey I required very little assistance from my supporters. I felt as though I possessed the tools and the drive to achieve my goal without relying too much on anyone else. However, there were a few considerable moments that impacted my attitude toward my supporters. At times I felt like my family member was pushing me away by constantly questioning if I had purchased anything, or asking how much money I had saved. I found this to be slightly patronizing and overbearing, which actually deterred me from reaching out to him for support when I really required it. In complete contrast to this was the support provided by my classmate, who never enquired about my progress but was just there for reinforcement when I asked for it. This approach was more effective for me, however somewhere between the two would have been

ideal.

The relationship I shared with my supporters made me reflect on how relevant individualized care really is. It all comes back to the core principles of recovery, the uniqueness of the individual, real choices, attitudes and rights, dignity and respect, and partnership and communication. These rights are the foundation for providing the best recovery orientated practice possible. (Health.gov.au, 2010)

There were a few different things that impacted my ability to be successful, both internally and externally. Unavoidable factors such as parking fine, my dog destroying my computer charger, and cracking my computer screen all slowed down my savings slightly. But the amazing progress I’d made paying off my debts largely overshadowed these minuscule pitfalls, so to remain motivated wasn’t something I struggled with. If I was to compare how small failures may impact a consumer, it may have a different bearing on their recovery. As mentioned earlier, there are many different factors that could come into play such as drug addiction, loss of employment or housing. Therefore, a small failure may essentially be ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ of a consumer’s recovery. (Tom J. Meehan, 2008) (Clair Le Boutillier, 2015) The same could be said for the duration of time a consumer may have to remain motivated. In some circumstances the consumer’s recovery may be a journey lasting several years, and to stay motivated for this amount of time may seem a daunting and impossible task. The main thing I took from this is to be as positive and supportive for your consumer consistently and indefinitely. (Val Goodwin, 2007)

Throughout my mini-journey, the research I have conducted and the course content to date, I’ve progressed from having a very minimal understanding of recovery orientated mental health practice, to feeling as though I have a personal understanding of the approach. This specific assessment, and mini-journey has increased my empathy and understanding of the consumer dramatically.
My recovery journey has allowed me to personally feel a glimpse what it’s like to be in the consumer’s shoes. I have experienced the struggles, feelings and thoughts of a consumer, and have felt the full weight of the importance of consumer driven recovery and consumer perspective. I will, without doubt, be able to use my newfound understanding and outlook to provide the most effective evidence based nursing care for consumers.

The ability for consumers to be drivers in their own recovery journey is of paramount importance. Therefore, the recovery approach sees the consumer’s goals, wants, needs, priorities and expectations are met and encourages the consumer to “have a strong voice”. (Ning, 2010) This is achievable by developing a real empathetic understanding of the individual consumer. In paradox to this, the old medical model saw providers only striving to satisfy government service demands, with no real drive or emphasis on improving the quality of service provided to consumers. The effectiveness of consumer driven recovery is clearly made evident throughout this course. That being said, we must all endeavour to create a shift from “substituted decision making to supported decision making”. (Ning, 2010, p. 119)