[Consideration of Recovery, as a Family Member, as a Patient, and as a Psychiatrist].

Abstract

I have previously published a paper in this journal that described my mother's schizo- phrenia, how I became a patient and the process by which I subsequently became a psychia- trist. After that paper, I began to think that my mother made a strong recovery. I no longer see my mother as an 'unfortunate person'. This change in perspective has also altered my values and internal strength, and I have begun to see the course of my own recovery. It is directed toward my 'recovery as a psychia- trist' ; it involves my contribution to psychiatric care and the social activities that I can par- ticipate in as a patient's family member and as a patient myself. For one of these activities, I administered a questionnaire survey directed toward patients and their family members throughout the country on 'psychiatrists' communication abilities' in June 2015. This survey is based on my frustrating experience of being unable to speak hon- estly with my attending physician when my mother and I were receiving psychiatric care. From my own experiences, I realised that recovery represents subjective improvement. Being subjective, it changes throughout life ; therefore, it is not something that can be defi- nitely ended, as in 'recovered'. I feel that recovery is similar to constantly 'climbing up a hill'. Sometimes, encounters and events in life may make us feel that we have fallen down. Dur- ing such times, we need people who can support us to climb 'the hill of recovery'. I believe that a psychiatric specialist is an important person who supports 'recovery according to the patient' by the side of the hill, firmly grounded in medical knowledge but also based on a sub- jective viewpoint of the patient and his/her family. In my description of these changes, I hope that this article can depict how I am climbing the hill to'recovery as a psychiatrist' and serve as a reference for the readers' clinical practice.