The conclusion of either the pathological process or the disease cycle, both from a clinical and anatomopathological point of view is what medicine means by outcome. Leaving out here the anatomopathological issues, a disease evolution may result in healing, chronicity or death. From a psychopathological perspective, symptoms reduction and social functioning improvement have always been regarded as the two most important outcomes in schizophrenia 1-3, although the changes of these domains do not go hand-in-hand 4. In recent years a “new psychiatry” is emerging, that aims not simply at the achievement of symptoms relief and social abilities, but to a “recovery” 5-7.
Recovery has received an increasing attention in mental health. However, it is also clear that the term “recovery” has been used in different ways with different meaning.