“Recovery does not mean cure, it is helping someone to live as full a life as possible despite their illness...” Hearing Voices Network, 2008

Getting better

With the help of our service we hope that you start to see signs that you are recovering such as voices and paranoid thoughts reducing and becoming more able to cope with daily life.

Getting back on track

It is a good idea to start making plans for how you will get your life back on track and what support is needed with this. Your care co-ordinator can help you make a plan about what you want to get from your life and the best services to access to get this help. They can help you identify ways to help you cope with any symptoms and difficulties you have.

Getting active and avoiding stress

It’s very good to be active and to start seeing friends again but you need to strike a balance. It’s often a good idea to build up how much you are doing gradually, making sure you still have time to relax as well as being active.

It’s often a good idea to build up how much you are doing gradually, making sure you still have plenty of time for just relaxing. Avoid drugs and alcohol.

Preventing relapse

Some people only ever have one episode of psychosis, but some may experience a relapse. Therefore it is important to make a plan that helps to prevent you becoming unwell again or to minimise the severity of any relapse you do experience. This will probably include agreeing on what needs to be done if certain stresses or symptoms become evident. We strongly recommend you avoid drugs and alcohol.

Employment and Volunteering

Returning to structured activity such as work is often an important part of recovery. We offer support in finding either paid or voluntary work. We also have access to numerous community services, for example Richmond Fellowship, which can provide additional careers advice and help with writing CV’s etc.

Social Groups

You may find that after a period of illness it is difficult to resume your normal social activities. We run a weekly social group which provides a safe and welcoming environment to meet new people; many of whom have similar experiences. The social group also provides an opportunity to get involved in different activities, for example mountain biking, badminton, bowling.

A shared story about recovery from Psychosis