Being Prepared post remission

What can you expect from a patient after they are symptom-free?

• Merely becoming symptom-free does not mean that the person has recovered from mental illness. Mental illness leaves behind its signs such as shaken confidence, sadness, comparison with peers (I am lagging), guilt (My family suffered due to my illness), fear (What if illness relapses), anxiety (How to start again?), etc. The patient can emerge from these feelings as they begin again, taking baby steps and gaining confidence.

• The carer must understand these feelings and the patient's situation - motivate and generate options to restart life. Often, the patient may be unable to complete the entire task in one go. Ask the patient to plan it in smaller portions. Encourage the efforts. If needed, arrange for a support system till the patient gains confidence.

Do we need to make follow-up visits to professionals?

Prevention is always better than cure. Follow-up visits with the treating doctor will help facilitate information exchange about the patient’s status. It allows the doctor to ensure that the patient continues to progress in the right direction.

What is after-care?

• When a patient comes out of mental illness, they think of losses in terms of money and the time that was wasted in the period when they were ill. One needs to take a total view of the situation. Experiences of the patient lead to a realization that time lost in the period of illness hardly matters once the patient comes out of mental illness and remains functional after that.

• What the patient has learned from the phase of mental illness is much more precious. They learn to accept things as they are and live with them, which is very difficult for even a normal person to know otherwise. Gaining insight resolves many problems. With insight, one can live and excel as any common person can despite a few known limitations.