Comparison of recovery style and insight of patients with severe mental illness in secure services with those in community services.

Insight and recovery style have long been associated with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) but there remains little understanding of the relationship between how individuals comprehend and react to their illness and whether this reaction has a subsequent impact on where they receive treatment. Patients receiving treatment for SMI in two different locations, community services and long-term secure services were compared on their Recovery Style and Insight. This study hypothesizes that patients with SMI who receive treatment in secure services do so because they have poor insight into their illness and adopt a 'sealing over' recovery style. A significant difference in insight was found. The community group recorded higher insight than those in the secure group. Recovery style was found to relate to insight but not to service provision. This difference may provide an explanation of how insight and recovery style contributes to the recovery process and why some people do not respond well to the traditional medical approach to their illness. Further research is required to explore these possibilities but early indications are that services could benefit from the assessment of insight and recovery style at the baseline assessment stage to support early treatment formulation.