Table 1 Themes and sub-themes describing participants’ experience of symptom remission, recovery, and a life worth living, being beyond healthy, and becoming well
Themes | Sub-themes |
|---|---|
Family or close people helped recovery and to create a LWL | Family or close people helped recovery |
Family or close people helped creating a LWL | |
Identify as recovered | Is almost recovered (has LWL) LWL is not the same as being recovered LWL needs to have depth; it’s not about recovery You must at least be partly recovered to have a LWL Being recovered is not a static condition |
Identify as healthy and beyond | Feels far from mental illness |
Inner work to develop strength and self-belief | |
Cultivated wisdom through meaning and perspective | |
Life beyond dreams | |
Becoming well is a long process | Took many years to become more healthy than sick Intensive multi-year therapies necessary Too short, non-adapted or incomplete treatments not helpful |