Stability tends to be what most psychiatrists shoot for. Think of stability as midway between response and remission. Technically, you are displaying few, if any, of the symptoms that you experienced in an emergency or crisis situation, but you are not well. Stability, nevertheless, signifies an important milestone in the road to recovery. Once you are stable, you are in a position to assume responsibility in setting and implementing goals in your recovery.
Unfortunately, stability is where the therapeutic relationship tends to fall apart. Many clinicians lose interest in your concerns once stability is achieved. Rightly or wrongly, they abdicate authority to you.
Full functioning is where virtually all of us want to be. We feel “well.” We are able to have satisfying careers. We are able to have friends and loving relationships. We are able to enjoy our lives. We feel good about ourselves.
In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of the recovery movement. This movement has been driven by patients demanding better outcomes than mere stability. These days, recovery is an overused word, one that government agencies are talking aboard and about to bureaucratize to death. Other interest groups are trying to hijack the term to discredit psychiatry and medications.
The greatest stakeholders in the recovery movement – the patients themselves - are smart enough not to attempt a definition. Each one of us is unique, with different requirements for what we want out of life.
Having said that, here is my by no means definitive take on recovery, from a project I am working on:
A state where one has either returned to:
- A long-lasting period of zero or low symptoms and impairments, together with very high functioning, and/or
- The ability to successfully manage one’s illness.
Even in a state of recovery, it is highly likely you will have to accept certain limitations in your daily life and perhaps even in what you can expect out of life. What is key is that you have reached full acceptance of your situation, and that you are fully comfortable in your ability to lead what you define as a rewarding and productive life.
