Recovery Narratives

Bipolar disorder can have a profound impact on the development of sense of self. In her clinical experience as a psychotherapist, team member Ros Irving observed that the process of making sense of people’s experiences with BD can be helped by developing a ‘recovery narrative’. The recovery narrative’s purpose is primarily to help people living with mental illness to find their voice.

Often illness removes the individual’s voice. The sense of self can be damaged. “It’s something that I manage but it is not who I am,” is a common lament. By writing a recovery narrative the person with BD can access the past and recognise the impact the illness interruption has caused. The narrative can also help them move towards exploring the next step: imagining and then creating the future. Sharing the narrative with others can result in a sense of belonging, of being known and accepted, thereby reducing the sense of aloneness that so often accompanies mental illness. By collaborating with the therapist on the narrative, the therapist may also become more aware of the person’s understandings of the illness and can be more effective in her interventions as a result.

Several studies have now examined the use recovery narratives in people with conditions like schizophrenia. However, to our knowledge, this is the first study to specifically examine whether this technique can help people with BD in their journey towards wellness.

In this pilot study we examined whether the use of recovery narratives in people with BD has an impact upon a range of factors, such as quality of life. CREST.BD team member Ros Irving spent three 1.5-hour sessions with 12 people diagnosed with BD talking to them about their understandings of recovery. Together, they created a written ‘recovery narrative’ document. The participants have the option of keeping this document for their personal use, or sharing a version of it via this website with other people with BD who are also working towards recovery. Our new Recovery Narratives webpage is home to six unique and dynamic stories, developed by participants during the course of this study. Visit the page to read these recovery narratives.

You can also watch Rosalind discuss her role in the Recovery Narratives research or study participant, Susi, read from her narrative and talk about her experiences during the project.