Principles, policies, and practices: reflections on recovery in the real world

In this editorial we set out the background to the advent and development of the concept of recovery in mental health care. We follow this with an overview of policy with specific reference to our own locale here in Wales where a recovery-focus is now written into national mental health legislation and policy directions. We briefly summarise our own research in this area and note positive relationships between recovery and social support and quality of life but also limited shared understanding of what recovery might mean alongside gaps in policy aspirations and everyday experiences of using services. The concept of recovery remains contested with concerns it has become a means for neoliberal thinking in services and in effect has been colonised by competing ideas. Despite this (sometimes) conflicting evidence and the polyvalent quality of the concept, recovery retains a sense of vitality and validity as evidenced by contributions to this special issue of the journal. Building on our reading of this growing literature we suggest that recovery necessitates social change, implies an understanding of systems and awareness of complexity and finally must account for and accommodate competing understandings. To achieve its foundational aims, it is imperative that research in this field directly engages and includes people with experience of using mental health services as co-researchers in generating new recovery-focused interventions to address the challenges of severe mental illness experiences.