Recovery – what it means to me

Mary Nettle I have been working as a mental health user consultant for many years. Words have changed over time or in fact words have remained the same and the way they are interpreted changes. My diagnosis has changed from Manic Depression to Bipolar Disorder but my condition remains the same. A psychiatric labelling system is still in place and nobody asked me how I thought it applied to me. It suits the mental health system to give me a label and I know people are keen to know what is „wrong“ with them but as a wise unknown person said „labels are for parcels not people“. When I was first labelled in 1978 I w…