IS PERSONAL RECOVERY A TRANSDIAGNOSTIC CONCEPT? A STUDY USING NARRATIVE EXPERIENCES

Mitch LASES^1,3, Jojanneke BRUINS^1,2, Ingrid VAN BALKOM², Stynke CASTELEIN^1,2,3

¹Lentis Psychiatric Institute, Lentis Research, Groningen, Netherlands
²University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Rob Giel Research Centre, Groningen, Netherlands
³University of Groningen, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Groningen, Netherlands

Introduction

Personal recovery concerns rediscovering one’s identity, renewed meaning in life, and coping with difficulties and trauma. The concept of personal recovery has its origin in psychosis-related recovery narratives, but it is unclear whether personal recovery themes are transferable to other mental disorders. The aim of this study was to test the transdiagnostic fit of personal recovery as a concept, by analyzing lived experience narratives from service users with psychosis, depression, anxiety and autism.

Methods

Thirty recovery narratives were retrieved from the Dutch Storybank Psychiatry. These were coded sentence-by-sentence by three independent coders, using the codebook of the CHIME framework for personal recovery (i.e. Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning, Empowerment). We assigned new codes to narrative content that was related to recovery, but that did not fit within the CHIME (sub)categories. Content related to the illness but not recovery was coded with ‘Difficulties and Trauma’.

Results

All five CHIME dimensions were richly reported in the narratives, independent of diagnosis. Most (n=17) of the narratives contained all five dimensions, and the remaining narratives contained four (n=12) or three (n=1) of the CHIME dimensions. A total of seven new codes were assigned to recovery related content, such as ‘recognition by diagnosis’ and ‘support from a pet or assistance dog’. A member check was performed, after which consensus was reached that all newly assigned codes fit within the CHIME framework.

Discussion-conclusion

In this study we found that personal recovery is transdiagnostic, as the five themes of CHIME were richly reported in all narratives, independent of diagnosis. All newly assigned codes seem to fit well within the CHIME model. They provide nuances for different diagnoses, and appear to increase the overall inclusivity of the CHIME model. Mental health care professionals might consider incorporating personal recovery goals in treatments of service users regardless of diagnosis.