Abstract
Recovery is now widely acknowledged as the dominant approach to the management of mental distress and illness in government, third-sector and some peer-support contexts across the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the Anglophone Global North. Although narrative has long been recognised in practice and in policy as a key “technology of recovery,” there has been little critical investigation of how recovery narratives are constituted and mobilised, and with what consequences. This paper offers an interdisciplinary, critical medical humanities analysis of the politics and possibilities of Recovery Narrative, drawing literary theoretical concepts of genre and philosophical approaches to the narrative self into conversation with the critiques of recovery advanced by survivor-researchers, sociologists and mad studies scholars. Our focus is not on the specific stories of individuals, but on the form, function and effects of Recovery Narrative as a highly circumscribed kind of storytelling. We identify the assumptions, lacunae and areas of tension which compel a more critical approach to the way this genre is operationalised in and beyond mental health services, and conclude by reflecting on the possibilities offered by other communicative formats, spaces and practices.
Highlights
It’s the mid-2010s, and the Country Valley Mental Health Trust has appointed a new Chief Executive to oversee implementation of its recovery strategy
This paper offers an interdisciplinary, critical medical humanities analysis of the politics and possibilities of Recovery Narrative, drawing literary theoretical concepts of genre and philosophical approaches to the narrative self into conversation with the critiques of recovery advanced by survivor-researchers, sociologists and mad studies scholars
We explore the formal and rhetorical features of these narratives, arguing that the efficacy of this technology depends upon tight adherence to generic conventions which are laid bare in the proliferation of ‘‘how to tell your recovery story’’ guides and training programmes delivered in mental health settings and Recovery Colleges (Perkins et al 2012; Nurser 2017)
Summary
It’s the mid-2010s, and the Country Valley Mental Health Trust has appointed a new Chief Executive to oversee implementation of its recovery strategy. Samira is charged with the not inconsiderable task of shifting the organisation from its predominantly symptom-focussed medical model approach towards being person-centred and recovery oriented She begins by asking colleagues already working with a recovery model what kind of training, initiatives and policies helped transform their thinking and practice. * It’s the mid-2010s, and Ben is a young person struggling with unusual experiences When he becomes part of a dynamic mental health charity, his world transforms. Maybe a year down the track, the invitations and engagements dry up His story is already in the public domain, and the charities, journalists, TV and radio producers want fresh faces. Where he has been sectioned, he speaks of a painful ebbing away of his sense of self-worth. *
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