Full access

Letter

Published Online: 1 October 2006

Letter

William S. Masland, M.D.Authors Info & Affiliations

Publication: Psychiatric Services

Volume 57, Number 10

https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2006.57.10.1510

PDF/EPUB

Recovery-Oriented Care

To the Editor: Davidson and colleagues ( 1 ), in an article in the May issue, "The Top Ten Concerns About Recovery Encountered in Mental Health System Transformation," make the following comment: "If mental illness is an illness like any other, it should be treated as such."

Mental illness is not like other illnesses. For example, liver disease, kidney disease, and neuromuscular disease do not affect a person's ability to interact with others, to form relationships, and to understand discussions. By the nature of mental illness, these various functions are impaired. I would consider this a fatal flaw in Davidson and colleagues' argument.

My experience with individuals who have severe neuropsychiatric damage is that much of what is described in the article as recovery-oriented care is simply not possible. In an accompanying commentary on the article, Dickerson ( 2 ) highlighted the situation: "Or will the recovery mantra come to represent another cycle of reform … that seems to offer the solution but is later evaluated to have been naïve and unscientific?"

To fail to take into account the cognitive and emotional effects of the disease under treatment is to avoid the issue of the inability to interact as a caregiver with a care receiver.

Footnote

Dr. Masland is in private practice in Yuma, Arizona.

References

Davidson L, O'Connell M, Tondora J, et al: The top ten concerns about recovery encountered in mental health system transformation. Psychiatric Services 57:640-645, 2006

Google Scholar

Dickerson F: Disquieting aspects of the recovery paradigm. Psychiatric Services 57:647, 2006

Google Scholar

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Psychiatric Services

Volume 57 • Number 10 • October, 2006

Pages: 1510

PubMed: 17035576

History

Published online: 1 October 2006

Published in print: October, 2006

Authors

Affiliations

William S. Masland, M.D.

View all articles by this author

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

There are no citations for this item

View Options

View options

PDF/ePub

View PDF/ePub

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Letter

Recovery-Oriented Care

Footnote

References