The Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Rehabilitation

People with severe mental disorders experience difficulty in functioning in several domains of life that are all not related to the illness and the symptoms. Medical management for severe mental disorders leads to improvement in symptoms and distress that may not always correlate with functional improvement. A comprehensive rehabilitative care is necessary to reengage the person in life activities and full participation in mainstream life. The Rehabilitation interventions are to be person centered with supports from the environment and removal of barriers to progress recovery. Rehabilitative care should be enhanced by integrated recovery-orientated practices that sustain hope, promote self-agency. This paper discusses the definition of psychiatric rehabilitation and a model of the processes involved.