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| Responsibility in the Preparation Stage: Taking Autonomous Steps |
Responsibility in the Preparation Stage: Taking Autonomous Steps
Movement from the Awareness stage to the Preparation stage requires determination to realize the goal of recovery. The process of moving from the question ‘Why did this happen to me?’ to the question ‘How do I proceed from here?’ requires taking responsible action (Lunt, 2002). To be empowered in one’s recovery necessitates making informed decisions and, to enable this, the person needs to acquire an understanding of the illness and its management. Learning about the effects of the illness is one of the steps towards taking responsibility:
As a result of hard work in therapy and other support, duringmyfourth hospitalization, I began to acknowledge that I have a chronic and serious mental illness and discuss specific limitations and how I might deal with them. (Anonymous, 1994a, p. 16)
I . . . have found education invaluable in understanding my illness, coming to terms with it and dealing with it. We must conscientiously study our illnesses and learn for ourselves what we can do to cope with the individual disabilities we experience. (Leete, 1989, p. 199)
Learning about the illness can improve the ability to recognize, monitor and manage symptoms, and to monitor medications and make treatment decisions. Aside from these illness-related activities, the nature of recovery is in taking charge of one’s life as a whole. Agency is cultivated by rebuilding independence in basic areas of life, such as self-care and care of the living environment, which provide proof to the person of his or her ability to live in the world (Davidson and Strauss, 1992; Baxter andDiehl, 1998; Young and Ensing, 1999). The person becomes aware of the importance of selfnurturing, taking time for the self and looking after one’s own needs: ‘I now try to do things for myself. I go for walks and just do things for me. I know that sounds selfish, but that is what you have to do’ (in Young and Ensing, 1999, p. 223). Learning about one’s illness and itsmanagement,making lifestyle changes, and utilizing psychological methods such asmeditation have also been found to instil a sense of control associated with better adjustment in cancer patients (Taylor, 1983). In preparation for rebuilding independence, the person may also utilize available resources to work on social and vocational skills (Baxter and Diehl, 1998; Young and Ensing, 1999). For example, Henderson explains how she prepared for employment:
There were things I had to do to make certain my success in these activities. I established routines for ensuring good nutrition (three squares a day), adequate sleep, regular exercise, continued compliance with taking my medication and keeping therapy appointments. My increased socialising helped me feel more comfortable around people . . . I collected information relevant to my work history. I considered the appropriateness of my wardrobe for interviewing, and the kinds of work I like to do. (Henderson, 2004, p. 86)
Tenney (2000) found that involvement with a peer support group provided her with the psychological resources needed to advance with her recovery:
Something incredible happened – I began to take responsibility for my actions. I found myself getting excited about my life and creative about my choices. For me the change had happened. (p. 1442)
All of these efforts towards self-empowerment, control of life and management of illness require the courage to take risks. Davidson and Strauss (1992) reported that participants emphasized the need for a sense of possibility of change before taking new risks. Therefore, consumers stress the importance of the support of others in their efforts to access the internal resources required to challenge entrenched assumptions about their limitations (Mead and Copeland, 2000). Empowerment in recovery can be fostered by empowering attitudes of professionals and caregivers:
Yet too many times our efforts to cope go unnoticed or are seen as symptoms themselves . . .. Unfortunately, our progress continues to be measured by professionals with concepts like ‘consent’ and ‘cooperate’ and ‘comply’ instead of ‘choose’ insinuating that we are incapable of taking an active role as partners in our own recovery. (Leete, 1989, p. 200)
Movement from the Awareness stage to the Preparation stage requires determination to realize the goal of recovery. The process of moving from the question ‘Why did this happen to me?’ to the question ‘How do I proceed from here?’ requires taking responsible action (Lunt, 2002). To be empowered in one’s recovery necessitates making informed decisions and, to enable this, the person needs to acquire an understanding of the illness and its management. Learning about the effects of the illness is one of the steps towards taking responsibility:
As a result of hard work in therapy and other support, duringmyfourth hospitalization, I began to acknowledge that I have a chronic and serious mental illness and discuss specific limitations and how I might deal with them. (Anonymous, 1994a, p. 16)
I . . . have found education invaluable in understanding my illness, coming to terms with it and dealing with it. We must conscientiously study our illnesses and learn for ourselves what we can do to cope with the individual disabilities we experience. (Leete, 1989, p. 199)
Learning about the illness can improve the ability to recognize, monitor and manage symptoms, and to monitor medications and make treatment decisions. Aside from these illness-related activities, the nature of recovery is in taking charge of one’s life as a whole. Agency is cultivated by rebuilding independence in basic areas of life, such as self-care and care of the living environment, which provide proof to the person of his or her ability to live in the world (Davidson and Strauss, 1992; Baxter andDiehl, 1998; Young and Ensing, 1999). The person becomes aware of the importance of selfnurturing, taking time for the self and looking after one’s own needs: ‘I now try to do things for myself. I go for walks and just do things for me. I know that sounds selfish, but that is what you have to do’ (in Young and Ensing, 1999, p. 223). Learning about one’s illness and itsmanagement,making lifestyle changes, and utilizing psychological methods such asmeditation have also been found to instil a sense of control associated with better adjustment in cancer patients (Taylor, 1983). In preparation for rebuilding independence, the person may also utilize available resources to work on social and vocational skills (Baxter and Diehl, 1998; Young and Ensing, 1999). For example, Henderson explains how she prepared for employment:
There were things I had to do to make certain my success in these activities. I established routines for ensuring good nutrition (three squares a day), adequate sleep, regular exercise, continued compliance with taking my medication and keeping therapy appointments. My increased socialising helped me feel more comfortable around people . . . I collected information relevant to my work history. I considered the appropriateness of my wardrobe for interviewing, and the kinds of work I like to do. (Henderson, 2004, p. 86)
Tenney (2000) found that involvement with a peer support group provided her with the psychological resources needed to advance with her recovery:
Something incredible happened – I began to take responsibility for my actions. I found myself getting excited about my life and creative about my choices. For me the change had happened. (p. 1442)
All of these efforts towards self-empowerment, control of life and management of illness require the courage to take risks. Davidson and Strauss (1992) reported that participants emphasized the need for a sense of possibility of change before taking new risks. Therefore, consumers stress the importance of the support of others in their efforts to access the internal resources required to challenge entrenched assumptions about their limitations (Mead and Copeland, 2000). Empowerment in recovery can be fostered by empowering attitudes of professionals and caregivers:
Yet too many times our efforts to cope go unnoticed or are seen as symptoms themselves . . .. Unfortunately, our progress continues to be measured by professionals with concepts like ‘consent’ and ‘cooperate’ and ‘comply’ instead of ‘choose’ insinuating that we are incapable of taking an active role as partners in our own recovery. (Leete, 1989, p. 200)
