Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Background:

The study investigates the process of recovery for people diagnosed with personality disorder, a client group that suffers significant social exclusion known to impact on demand for health and other public services. It aims to examine efforts that attempt to reverse this social exclusion as an aspect of the recovery process.

Aim and Method:

The following study aims to (1) explore what recovery means to people with personality disorder; (2) develop a conceptual model of recovery in personality disorder; and (3) evaluate the contribution of the setting (The Haven) to recovery practice. The study uses a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design. Data was collected from 66 participants by focus groups and individual interviews.

Findings:

A map based on thematic analysis of data collected during the study is proposed of the recovery journey for people with this diagnosis, shown as a pyramid that represents a hierarchy of progress, from building trust through stages of recovery to social inclusion.

Conclusion:

The findings offer contributions to knowledge in terms of the service design and propose a new model of recovery in personality disorder. This is defined as a journey of small steps highlighting recovery as a process rather than a goal, leading to the emergence of the new concept of transitional recovery.

Keywords

Personality disorder recovery transitional recovery social inclusion mental health services

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bateman

W. B.

Fonagy

(2004). Mentalization-based treatment of BPD. Journal of Personality Disorders, 18, 36–51.

Bettleheim

(1950). Love is not enough. New York: The Free Press.

Bloom

(1997). Creating sanctuary: Towards the evolution of sane societies. New York: Routledge.

Bowlby

(1969). Attachment and loss. London: Hogarth Press.

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.

Campling

(1999). Chaotic personalities: Maintaining the therapeutic alliance. In Campling

Haigh

(eds), Therapeutic communities: Past, present and future (pp. 127–139). London: Jessica Kingsley.

Castillo

(2003). Personality disorder: Temperament or trauma? London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Chiesa

Bateman

Wilberg

Friss

(2002). Patients’ characteristics, outcome and cost-benefit of hospital-based treatment for patients with a personality disorder: A comparison of three difference programmes. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 75, 381–392.

Coleman

(1999). Recovery: An alien concept? Gloucester: Handsell.

10.

Davidson

(2003). Living outside mental illness: Qualitative studies in schizophrenia. New York: New York University Press.

11.

Deegan

P. E.

(1990). How recovery begins. Burlington, VT: The Centre for Community Change through Housing and Support.

12.

Deegan

P. E.

(1996). Recovery as a journey of the heart. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 19, 91–97.

13.

Faulkner

Petit-Zeman

Sherlock

Wallcraft

(2002). Being there in a crisis. London: Mental Health Foundation and Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.

14.

Freire

(1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.

15.

Haigh

(1999). The quintessence of a therapeutic environment: Five universal qualities. In Campling

Haigh

(eds), Therapeutic communities: Past, present and future (pp. 246–257). London: Jessica Kingsley.

16.

Hinshelwood

R. D.

(1996). Communities and their health. Therapeutic Communities, 17, 173–182.

17.

HM Government. (2009). Work recovery and inclusion: Employment support for people in contact with secondary mental health services. London: HM Government.

18.

Katsakou

Marougka

Barnicot

Savill

White

Lockwood

Priebe

(2012). Recovery in borderline personality disorder (BPD): A qualitative study of service users’ perspectives. PloS ONE, 7, e36517. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036517.

19.

Maslow

A. H.

(1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–396.

20.

Nehls

(2000). Recovering: A process of empowerment. Advanced Nursing Science, 22, 62–70.

21.

Ramon

(2003). Users researching health and social care: An empowering agenda? Birmingham: Ventura.

22.

Ramon

Castillo

Morant

(2001). Experiencing personality disorder. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 47, 1–15.

23.

Reason

Bradbury

(2001). Handbook of action research. London: SAGE.

24.

Roberts

Wolfson

(2004). The rediscovery of recovery: Open to all. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 10, 37–49.

25.

Scanlon

Adlam

(2011). Cosmopolitan minds and metropolitan societies: Social exclusion and social refusal revisited. Psychodynamic Practice, 17, 241–254.

26.

Slade

Amering

Oades

(2008). Recovery: An international perspective. Epidemiolofia e Psychatria Sociale, 17, 128–137.

27.

Turner

Lovell

Brooker

(2011). …and they all lived happily ever after: ‘Recovery’ or discovery of the self in personality disorder? Psychodynamic Practice, 17, 341–346.

28.

Wallcraft

(2005). The place of recovery. In Ramon

Williams

(eds), Mental health at the crossroads: The promise of the psychological approach (pp. 127–136). Aldershot: Ashgate.

29.

Winnicott

(1965). The maturational process and the facilitating environment. London: Hogarth.

30.

Zanarini

M. C.

Frankenburg

F. R.

Reich

D. B.

Fitzmaurice

(2012). Attainment and stability of sustained symptomatic remission and recovery among patients with borderline personality disorder and axis II comparison subjects: A 16-year prospective follow-up study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 476–483.

A recovery journey for people with personality disorder

Abstract

Background:

Aim and Method:

Findings:

Conclusion:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References