title: Recovery from serious mental illness: a concept analysis.
abstract: This paper examines the concept of recovery in the context of serious mental illness. The analysis uses literature from multiple health care disciplines and different uses of "recovery" in every- day language, technical applications, and popular culture. This iterative process concludes with a definition of recovery from serious mental illness: a nonlinear process of self-organization and adaptation that offsets the personal disintegration of mental illness and enables the individual to reconceive his or her sense of self and well-being on all biopsychosocial levels. The relevance of the concept is reevaluated with this definition for potential usage in the mental health care setting.
authors.affiliation: University of New Mexico, College of Nursing, Fort Myers, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brennaman
authors.forename: Marie L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lobo
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012649:Self Concept