To many consumers, recovery is much more than just a return to a normal state of functioning or symptom remission: it is a journey (Deegan, 1995). Social support has been found to play an important role in this recovery journey (Frese & Davis, 1997) for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). However, individuals with SMI have been found to have social networks that are one-half the size of those of the general population (Corrigan & Phelan, 2004; Wilson, Flanagan, & Rynders, 1999).
Many individuals with SMI have a dual diagnosis for co-occurring substance use disorders (MacDonald et al., 2004), and the recovery process is not unique to the field of mental health (e.g., other health arenas such as cancer and substance abuse also address recovery processes). Today, in the age of the consumer-survivor movement, where the client is an active and informed participant in their treatment and recovery (Gonzalez, 1976; Wilson et al., 1999), there is much debate about the definition of recovery.
This study represents an integration of the current recovery and social support literature with an evaluation of the Wellness Management and Recovery (WMR) program. The WMR program is an ongoing, multi-site project which is designed to promote mental health recovery among individuals experiencing severe and persistent mental illness in the community. The current research was an adjunct to WMR and examined how this recovery program affects the quality and quantity of the social support of the participants. The present study was designed to evaluate whether a recovery-oriented program helped individuals with SMI to gain not only in number of social supports (quantitatively), but also whether these supports were perceived to be meeting their needs (qualitatively). Results found that participants successfully completing the WMR program showed a significant increase in both quantity and quality of their social support networks. Exploratory analyses of follow-up data, as well as an open-ended question regarding the most important persons in the lives of participants (Intimates versus Friends), are also discussed.