Recovery in schizophrenia: reality or mere slogan.

As researchers have learned more about schizophrenia, recovery has become an increasingly prominent paradigm for understanding the goals of people with schizophrenia, and for guiding research and services for these individuals. This article provides a review of the recent literature on this topic, with consideration of both the outcome and process perspectives of recovery, and research that supports psychotherapeutic treatment for individuals recovering from schizophrenia. It concludes that schizophrenia can be overcome to varying degrees--some individuals may identify themselves as "fully recovered," whereas other individuals may be in a process of recovery for their entire lives. In the future, researchers should try to reconcile process and outcome perspectives of recovery, and advocate for recovery-oriented services for individuals with schizophrenia.