‘Daring to peek over the wall’: A qualitative exploration of the concept of remission in the process of recovery for people with schizophrenia

Remission is synonymous within cancer care and with other physical disorders, but less known and utilised in relation to people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Following work by Andreasen et al (2005) the idea of remission in schizophrenia became more widely utilised as symptomatic remission and was employed as an outcome measure primarily addressing medication efficacy. Whilst remission may or may not be a useful concept, the language, perception and social construction of remission for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia is also of high importance. To date, there has not been any published material with respect to consultation with service users who have a diagnosis of schizophrenia regarding their personal interpretations and possible concern of the concept of remission. This study explores and conceptualises the possible introduction of the concept of remission into the process of recovery for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Therefore raising the question; “Is remission a useful concept to facilitate transition back into primary care for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia?”