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Personal Recovery in Schizophrenia: A Narrative Review

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Recovery and Major Mental Disorders

Part of the book series: Comprehensive Approach to Psychiatry ((CAP,volume 2))

Abstract

The issues of remission and recovery in schizophrenia have received increasing attention in the last decades. This chapter will discuss the contemporary perspective of a ‘new psychiatry’ that aims not merely to achieve symptoms reduction and social functioning improvements but also recovery. In this context, parallel to the development and acceptance of the ‘remission’ construct in schizophrenia, the concept of ‘personal recovery’, a deeply personal, unique process of changing one’s attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills, and roles, has become increasingly central in mental health. Recovery-oriented interventions support people with severe mental illness to pursue their goals, achieve subjective well-being, promote resilience, personal skills, and hope, facilitate self-determination, and enhance individual strengths, preferences, and aspirations. Although scientific literature does not support ‘recovery either symptomatic or personal’ for everyone (i.e. recovery from schizophrenia), the process in which people can live a fulfilling and productive life despite disability should be a goal for all patient/user and services (i.e. recovery in schizophrenia). Within an ‘evidence-based optimism’ perspective, the integration of subjective and clinical models could lead to a better understanding of recovery in schizophrenia and contribute to design individualized and integrated treatment programmes aimed to help individuals living a satisfying life despite mental disability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    Rodolfo Rossi

  2. Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

    Valentina Socci & Alessandro Rossi

  3. Department of Mental Health, ASL1, L’Aquila, Italy

    Alessandro Rossi

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  1. Rodolfo Rossi
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  2. Valentina Socci
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  3. Alessandro Rossi
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Correspondence to Alessandro Rossi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department for Medical Sciences, Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Bernardo Carpiniello

  2. Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Antonio Vita

  3. Department of Neuroscience, Azienda Ospedaliera Fatebenefratelli e O, Milano, Italy

    Claudio Mencacci

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Rossi, R., Socci, V., Rossi, A. (2022). Personal Recovery in Schizophrenia: A Narrative Review. In: Carpiniello, B., Vita, A., Mencacci, C. (eds) Recovery and Major Mental Disorders. Comprehensive Approach to Psychiatry, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98301-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98301-7_3

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