Healing from Mental Illness: Two Things You Need

Is healing from mental illness even possible? Any mental illness can make life difficult because of the way it interferes in people’s thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationships.

It can sometimes seem as though nothing will ever get better. It’s normal to feel that way. The truth, though, is that as difficult as mental illness can be, it is not who you are. Therefore, you can heal.

Some mental illnesses, like some anxiety- and mood disorders, can be overcome, whereas others, such as dissociative- or psychotic disorders, have no permanent cure. Either way you can live well. Two important healing factors are:

• Hope

• Action

Hope is key to mental health recovery and is a crucial part of healing from mental illness. It’s an attitude and a core belief. When you have hope, you live with the mind-set that things can, and will, improve. Hope is what keeps us going when everything else tries to make us give up.

Action is just as important as hope. Action is the commitment to make hope a reality.

Hope is the part of you that whispers, “Things will get better.” Action is the part of you that shouts, “I will do something today to make things better.” We need both. Hope and action work together and allow us to heal from mental illness.