Although many advances in the treatment of schizophrenia have been made over the past decade, little is known about the process of recovery from a first episode of schizophrenia (FES). To date, the study of recovery in the field of mental health has focused on long-term mental illness. This in depth qualitative study drew upon Charmaz’s (1990) constructivist grounded theory methodology to address the following questions: How do individuals who have experienced a FES describe their process of recovery? How does an identified individual (e.g. friend, family member, teacher, or clinician) describe their role during the participant’s process of recovery, and their perception of the recovery process? Ten primary participants (who self-identified as recovering from a FES) had two interviews; in addition, there was a one-time interview with a secondary participant, for a total of 30 interviews. Data collection sources included participant semi-structured interviews, participant selected personal objects that symbolized their recovery, and clinical records. The results provide a substantive theory of the process of recovery from a FES. The emergent process of recovery model for these participants is comprised of the following phases: ‘Lives prior to the illness’, ‘Lives interrupted: Encountering the illness’, ‘Engaging in services and supports’, ‘Re-engaging in life’, ‘Envisioning the future’; and the core category, ‘Re-shaping an enduring sense of self,’ that occurred through all phases. A prominent distinctive feature of this model is that participants’ enduring sense of self were reshaped versus reconstructed throughout their recovery. The emergent model of recovery from a FES is unique, and as such, provides implications for clinical care, future research, and policy development specifically for these young people and their families.

Although many advances in the treatment of schizophrenia have been made over the past decade, little is known about the process of recovery from a first episode of schizophrenia (FES). To date, the study of recovery in the field of mental health has focused on long-term mental illness. This in depth qualitative study drew upon Charmaz’s (1990) constructivist grounded theory methodology to address the following questions: How do individuals who have experienced a FES describe their process of recovery? How does an identified individual (e.g. friend, family member, teacher, or clinician) describe their role during the participant’s process of recovery, and their perception of the recovery process? Ten primary participants (who self-identified as recovering from a FES) had two interviews; in addition, there was a one-time interview with a secondary participant, for a total of 30 interviews. Data collection sources included participant semi-structured interviews, participant selected personal objects that symbolized their recovery, and clinical records. The results provide a substantive theory of the process of recovery from a FES. The emergent process of recovery model for these participants is comprised of the following phases: ‘Lives prior to the illness’, ‘Lives interrupted: Encountering the illness’, ‘Engaging in services and supports’, ‘Re-engaging in life’, ‘Envisioning the future’; and the core category, ‘Re-shaping an enduring sense of self,’ that occurred through all phases. A prominent distinctive feature of this model is that participants’ enduring sense of self were reshaped versus reconstructed throughout their recovery. The emergent model of recovery from a FES is unique, and as such, provides implications for clinical care, future research, and policy development specifically for these young people and their families.