RECOVERY
‘The project has increased awareness about the treatment of patients and helped the wider public to understand the improvements made over the past 2,000 years towards Mental Health. We noticed a change in people’s attitude, even if was challenging at the beginning. But after our efforts to encourage people to look around the exhibition or buy the books by the end there was 100% increase in positive listening and response.’
RECOVERY was established in 2004 by founder Liz Maitland, a former mental health patient, with the objective to give those with mental health problems a choice in their treatment and recovery. In 1975, when Liz was first diagnosed as having a mental health problem, she was immediately put into hospital, with no choice in how to cope with her illness. This personal experience encouraged Liz to create RECOVERY to campaign against compulsion (patients being forced onto drug treatments).
RECOVERY teaches that treatments such as creative therapy and centering therapy can be used as complementary alternative treatments to medication. In doing so, the charity aims to help individuals find the right method of treatment that works the best for them in overcoming mental health problems – allowing for an individually tailored experience.
Additionally, the charity works to raise public awareness regarding mental illnesses and to remove the associated stigma attached to cognitive impairments. This is achieved through fundraising activities as advocated by the RECOVERY staff and volunteers. In 2008 the charity produced an exhibition and a book which covered the history of Mental Health over the past 2,000 years. They also produce Life-Stories, written by survivors, which aim to help the wider public understand the causes and effects of Mental Health problems and how people can recover completely.
Alongside these events RECOVERY has developed the RECOVERY’s Independent Community Advocacy Personalisation Project (RICAPP). This project supports survivors within the community who are unable to visit the RECOVERY studio. The volunteers and members of staff visit these survivors and help in a variety of ways, from supporting the individual with domestic tasks to simply being there as a companion.
Volunteers and staff are often people who have previously experienced and overcome mental illness; therefore can offer a unique understanding and empathy. Sean, a volunteer at RECOVERY, is exemplar of this. Having gone to a mental health hospital in April 1990, Sean was told he would be given medication as this was the only option at the time (Since then, the laws on taking medication have now been changed, with 75% of people being voluntary).
Sean commented that “After 20 years of being subject to the system I feel it has not been particularly kind to me or favoured me…I feel that the doctors have treated me not for the sake of being well, but have administered medication to help their own scientific research into the ways of schizophrenia”. Consequently, he volunteers at RECOVERY due to their “endeavours to seek justice for individuals in this or similar positions”.
Since July 2011, RECOVERY has run its new project - Pets as Wellbeing Support (PAWS), alongside RICAPP. The project uses animal companionship to improve wellbeing. This helps to combat feelings of isolation felt by many mental health sufferers. The dogs are known as emotional assistants and have intensive training to help their owners with feelings of anxiety, loneliness and panic attacks.
Quotes
‘I'd like to say thank you to RECOVERY for helping me through all of the bad times as well as the good and giving me the support I’ve needed to stay positive and move on. I hope Lizzie and the team have a good healthy life and future’.
I have recently been made vice-chairperson of the charity. This makes me feel very proud and gives me something positive to focus on.’ Ryan Micklewright
Created 17th January 2013
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