Recovery from Severe Mental Illness: a 5-Year Follow-Up Study After the 1995 Swedish Mental Health Care Reform

The aim of this study was to follow up the target group of the 1995 Swedish Mental Health Care Reform, focusing on recovery. In 1995–96, in one area of Sweden, 602 people were surveyed and judged to be severely mentally ill. Five years later the number of people who had recovered was estimated and compared with the group still judged to be severely mentally ill. A sample of recovered people was interviewed in order to gain an understanding of the recovery process. Of those surveyed, 14% were estimated to have recovered to the degree that they were no longer considered to be severely mentally ill. Support from others, medication and healthcare contributed to recovery, sometimes in a complex and contradictory way. It was also found to be important that the person took an active role in his/her own process of recovery. The recovered person's locus of control could be internal as well as external.