Mental health professionals’ perspectives regarding how recovery is conceptualized in Singapore: a constructivist grounded theory study

Mental health recovery has shifted from clinical conceptualizations to more personal ones. However, much of the lived experience literature has focused on people living with mental health conditions, and less attention has been placed on various mental health professionals, especially in Asian countries, where the personal recovery literature base is in its nascent stage.We sought to contribute to a growing body of work by exploring recovery from the lens of different mental health professionals in Singapore.Mental health professionals in Singapore were invited to participate in an online interview through social media. The recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a constructive grounded theory approach.Nineteen participants were interviewed. A single core category, "living in society once more", and three categories, "An ongoing process", "Regaining ability to function in society", and "A normality report card" were identified from our data.Recovery within the Singapore mental health professional perspective focuses on helping individuals return to society and function productively while considering existing societal norms such as the highly competitive and pragmatic culture in Singapore. Future research can explore in greater depth the impact of these factors on the recovery process.