UC Irvine

Objective: This study explores the concept of recovery from severe mental disorders from the perspective of mental health service personnel working in Mexico City. Participants: For this study, 95 mental health personnel were recruited from mental health and addiction treatment facilities in Mexico City using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Of those recruited to participate in the study, 64.2% were female. The average age of participants was 39.79 years, ranging from 24 to 68 years of age. Method: The study used semi-structured interviews lasting an average of 90 minutes in length. Transcribed interviews were coded and analyzed for thematic content (Cohen & Struening, 1962) regarding the concept of recovery and relapse of mental illness. Results: Of the respondents, 19% did not believe that recovery was possible for individuals with severe mental disorders; one-third of respondents believed that recovery was possible, and 46.6% thought recovery was sometimes possible. From the response analysis, eight categories were developed of factors affecting recovery of mental illness: treatment adherence, diagnosis type, family support, individual characteristics, social support, fatalism, treatment effectiveness, and other. Meanwhile, 12 categories were determined for factors which facilitate relapses: treatment adherence failure, lack of family support, economic factors, lack of social support, lack of mental illness knowledge, individual characteristics, stress, ineffective treatment, environmental factors, type of diagnosis, part of recovery, and other.