Recovery's Edge: An Ethnography of Mental Health Care and Moral Agency

By Neely Laurenzo Myers

In 2003 the Bush Administration's New Freedom Commission asked mental health service providers to begin promoting "recovery" rather than churning out long-term, "chronic" mental health service users. Recovery's Edge sends us to urban America to view the inner workings of a mental health clinic run, in part, by people who are themselves "in recovery" from mental illness.

In this provocative narrative, Neely Myers sweeps us up in her own journey through three years of ethnographic research at this unusual site, providing a nuanced account of different approaches to mental health care. Recovery's Edge critically examines the high bar we set for people in recovery through intimate stories of people struggling to find meaningful work, satisfying relationships, and independent living.

This book is a recipient of the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize from Vanderbilt University Press for the best book in the area of medicine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
• Release date: Dec 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9780826520814

Neely Laurenzo Myers

Neely Laurenzo Myers is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University.

Reviews for Recovery's Edge

[scottjpearson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The American mental health system is one without much hope, without much money, and without much publicity. In this academic exploration, Myers seeks to bring a clear lens of careful observation to the situation. Often, exposure to the system makes observers disillusioned and hopeless. To that narrative, she provides a counter-narrative based on first-hand experience and research. All in all, she succeeds in her attempt.She spends an extended period of time investigating mental health therapy that emphasizes recovery above all else. A regain of “moral agency” or the restoration of moral thinking was the primary goal of this facility. Despite best efforts, this facility did not succeed in reintegrating the mentally ill into society. The gap between what was normal “out there” and what was normal in the facility was too great. The ill had formed a subculture.Myers critically examines the cultural factors that led to this problem. Peer leadership was encouraged through a program, but staff often implicitly encouraged compliance to rules over self-determination. People “out there” were terribly afraid of engaging with the mentally ill. Stigma was in many respect shared both ways as the mentally ill labeled people who weren’t.The goal of the program was to lead the mentally ill through several steps: Strict adherence to a medication regimen, learning to self-advocate, forming intimate relationships, and then cusping onto recovery and reengagement with the general public. Progression through these steps seemed promising in theory. However, in practice regaining moral agency was rarely achieved. In the conclusion, Myers examines why and provides templates for improvement on this program.Overall, this book is well-written and appropriate for those concerned with the American mental health system. It is a system in need of attention, and Myers provides it with a few rays of hope. There aren’t a lot hopeful signs “out there,” as funding for research was recently cut significantly. Myers’ work provides some humanization and some reality for this often-trampled-upon group in society.