Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Within their emerging adult role, young people will embark on employment, form intimate relationships and live independently. This indicates that how recovery is experienced and actualized in young adulthood may be different from other age groups. To explore young adult service user's perspectives of mental health recovery in Northern Ireland. Semi-structured individual qualitative interviews were analysed using a Gadamerian-based hermeneutic method and interpreted using a novel theoretical framework. The sample comprised 25 participants with an average age of 28years. Five key themes evolved: Services: A Losing Battle Straight Away; From your Foundations to a Step in the Dark; Let Go of the Pain not the Experience; Surviving Out of the Ashes Recovery; and Needs to be More than a Word. The main findings were that recovery involved the reclaiming of their active and purposeful life force. It is suggested that young adults have developed an explanatory model of "use that stuff you wanna bury" to transform an illness narrative to a wellness strategy. This research has implications for mental health nursing so the process of mental health recovery is not presented as a clinical pathway, but a personalized strategy of individual wellness.
Highlights
Within their emerging adult role, young people will embark on employment, form intimate relationships and live independently
This indicates that how recovery is experienced and actualized in young adulthood may be different from other age groups
It is suggested that young adults have developed an explanatory model of “use that stuff you wanna bury” to transform an illness narrative to a wellness strategy
Summary
Within their emerging adult role, young people will embark on employment, form intimate relationships and live independently This indicates that how recovery is experienced and actualized in young adulthood may be different from other age groups. “Recovery in” mental illness has been described as a non-linear process (Deegan, 1988); a gradual individual journey involving a range of experiences (Kelly & Gamble, 2005) but fundamentally a personal process (Davidson & Roe, 2007; Wood et al, 2010). While these are core elements, there are often barriers to their sustainability, requiring a dynamic interaction with internal and external processes for real-life maintenance (Deegan, 1993; Coleman, 1999; Jacobson and Greenley, 2001; Onken et al, 2007; Pitt et al 2007; Kogstad et al, 2011)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
