The recovery movement, which broadly recognizes the ability of people with mental illnesses to participate in the mainstream of society, stems from a confluence of factors, including longitudinal data showing that many people eventually recover from serious mental illness. Perhaps as important to the emergence and growth of the recovery movement has been the increasing role that people “in recovery” have played in advocating for person-centered care, greater self-determination for those with mental illnesses, and an enhanced focus on restoring functioning for individuals above and beyond symptom reduction. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 redefined serious forms of mental illness as disabilities, which led to the development of a range of accommodations to enable people with psychiatric disabilities to live in their own homes, work, go to school, and perform other normative adult roles such as parent and parishioner even while suffering symptoms. The Affordable Care Act provides additional levers for expanding the use of peer health navigators and shifting care to a collaborative model in which people can play active roles in their own care. While stigma and discrimination continue to pose formidable obstacles, the foundations have been laid for mental health practice to come closer to resembling health care for other medical conditions.
