Recovery

This image can mean different things to different people. I call it
Recovery but it could be Pheonix or Fire Demon. You may see something
else. That's why I like to call it Recovery: because it means (or looks
like) different things to different people. The Phoenix I see, the fire
bird, is also an animal that is reborn from the flames.

If I asked a group of diverse group of mental health professionals and
people with lived experience to define recovery they'd all have
different answers.

The concept broadly means recovery from mental illness but if I asked a
diverse group of mental health professionals and people with lived
experience to define mental illness they'd all have different answers.

Some consider it the return to a life without mental healthcare, i.e.
without psychiatric medication or psychosocial support. To others it
means acceptance, tolerance or resilience to the distress and socially
acceptable coping strategies or externalisations that don't need support
from mental healthcare services. To others it means a return to the
opportunities and the quality of life they had before diagnosis or
psychiatric crisis. There are other definitions and for them the
definition of recovery may involve medication and psychiatric support..

In a sense what recovery means is the hope, by whatever definition and
from any perspective.

For many that hope is as elusive as a flickering flame.

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Canon 50D and Canon 50mm f1.8
Shot in Camden near the lock markets a few weeks ago