Developing a Helpful Long-Term Perspective After Psychosis
After psychosis: 14 points of consideration during early recovery.
Updated May 28, 2026 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
My "why" for writing has always been the same: I write what I wish I could have read in early recovery and offer a longer-term perspective to people in the throes of early recovery challenges, as short-sighted thinking and emotions are typical. Short-term perspectives are almost inevitable for many reasons.
First, most people don’t know of a single other person with their illness, especially if it is schizophrenia. It’s easy to feel like you are a bizarre case or a mystery the world has never seen before. It’s so difficult when you have no one to speak to who can really understand what you have been through, and no one to relate similar experiences with. It seems like most people won’t disclose schizophrenia due to concerns with professional reputation. Even after several years of speaking, writing, and facilitating a support group, I still know very few people, probably less than 15, who have disclosed to me a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective. It took my joining a support group 10 years after being diagnosed with schizophrenia to meet the first person in my life who disclosed a diagnosis with the prefix of ‘schizo’ in it.
Overwhelming Emotions
Short-term thinking and isolation are also created through extraordinary levels of emotions like humiliation , shame , and hopelessness. The emotional pain in the aftermath of psychosis is so unique and devastating that it can be hard for loved ones to understand just what life is like on the inside of you and how debilitating it can be. I experienced the most crushing emotions of my life during this period of early recovery, and it is my goal through everything I do with writing and speaking that other people have a better emotional recovery than I did.
Short-term thinking is also inevitable due to how many challenges you can face in early recovery, perhaps the toughest hardships you’ve faced in your life when you are least likely to handle them. There’s no time to think about long-term perspective or goals when faced with immediate potential concerns like homelessness, joblessness, basic safety, no money, legal matters, strained or destroyed relationships, and cognitive disability.
When faced with staggering, seemingly insurmountable problems, you have two options: you can try and do the hard work to recover, without any guarantee you will get better, or you decide to quit. I ultimately decided to try and risk failure instead of quit. I decided if there is anything to be said for my life after my illness, when all is said and done, I wanted it to be that I kept trying and did not quit. Even though I had no guarantee of getting better, I did.
This idea of refusing to quit was one component of any type of long-term perspective for me, and the second was possessing patience. I had to have patience to let the medicine do its work and patience for counseling to make a difference over time. Faith in a higher power instilled patience in me too. Faith provided this idea to me I held onto that there could be a big picture for my life where one day everything will make more sense, even when I could not see any big picture myself or make any sense out of my life.
Major Points of Consideration That Offer Long-term Perspective
My ultimate goal in writing is to offer a long-term perspective so others have more to lean on than I did. I believe this long-term perspective is critical for making the best health care decisions in early recovery that lead to optimum quality of life and favorable health outcomes. Here are my points of consideration on long-term perspective.
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Sarah Merritt Ryan, M.S., CPSS, is a survivor of schizophrenia and writes about stigma, recovery, and hope.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.