From Participation to Citizenship: How to Regain a Role, a Status, and a Life in the Process of Recovery

This article analyzes the role of social factors in recovery from psychosis, which can be helpful as well as hinder the process of recovery. Informants found their roles as psychiatric patients constituted a major barrier to social adaptation. They experienced stigma both within their natural social networks and mental health services, which often led to self-stigmatization. Given this stigma, the right to have a say in one's care and the right to other forms of self-advocacy were crucial in recovery. The sense of belonging to a place or a group of people outside institutions could be the first step. In addition to existing social networks, informants found these social arenas in their places of employment, clubs, day centres, shelters, or Internet communities. Spending time within new and different people and social groups also raised awareness of informants' desires and abilities to become citizens in their own communities.