Recovery Stories
What kind of life can you live after receiving a grave diagnosis, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder?
People featured on this page have each found their own answer — and it is not the hopeless message that we hear all too often. When you read and watch their inspiring stories, note that everyone’s path to recovery is different.
Some use medications, and some don’t;
Among those who use medications, some take them regularly, others only on occasion.
There are three common threads to all success stories, though - click here.
If you want to support your loved one, be sure to respect and honor their individual choices. Remember that everyone is the best expert on oneself.
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Eleanor Longden, PhD
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Keris Myrick, M.B.A., M.S., PhD
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John Nash, PhD (1928 – 2015)
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Claire Bien MEd.
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Jim Gottstein, JD
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Here are some other individuals who have publicly shared their stories of recovery and/or living a good life after being diagnosed with serious mental illness:
Ronald Bassman, Rachel Waddingham, Will Hall, Mary Ellen Copeland, Daniel S. Helma
Paris Williams was not formally diagnosed, but had “experiences that would have likely resulted in the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder” if he did not “avoid becoming entangled within the psychiatric system.” He achieved his own healing, and then became a clinical psychologist.
Remember that all these stories are only the tip of the iceberg. Most people diagnosed with serious mental illness and living “normal” lives do not share accounts of their recovery, because they don’t not want others to know about their psychiatric history.
And a word of warning – don’t automatically trust all first-person accounts. Watch out for distorted and “astroturf” stories of recovery.
Want to know more real-life recovery stories? Here are some places to look:
Psychosis.net: Recovery Stories
Marcus Romme et al., Living with Voices: 50 Stories of Recovery (PCCS Books, 2013)
Frederick J. Frese, Edward L. Knight, Elyn Saks, “Recovery From Schizophrenia: With Views of Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and Others Diagnosed With This Disorder,” Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35/2, March 2009, pp. 370–380.
Courtenay M. Harding, Recovery from Schizophrenia: Evidence, History, and Hope (Oxford University Press, 2024)
Paris William, Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis (Sky's Edge Publishing, 2012)
Loren R. Mosher, Voyce Hendrix, Soteria: Through Madness to Deliverance (Xlibris, 2004)
Joanne Greenberg, Jeffrey Fortuna, Chuck Knapp, Most of Us Recover: Taking a Fresh Look at Extreme Mental States (Rose Garden Press, 2026).
