The author, who was diagnosed as having chronic process schizopbrenia, describes hen expeniences as a patient in the treatment world of the chronic mentally ill, beginning at age 17· Over the next six years she was seen by four psychiatrists, was hospitalized eight times, attended day hospitals, lived in a foster cane home, and received shock treatments, megavitamin therapy, and a variety of neuroleptic and antidepressant drugs. Eventually she developed a drinking problem and was forced to enter a chemical dependency treatment program. The first of many turning points in hen illness came when a psychiatrist associated with the program believed she could necoven and persuaded staff to work with hen. The author defines hope as an essential element in the recovery process and emphasizes the importance of instilling hope for recovery in physicians, patients, and patient care staff. She attributes hen recovery to multipie, sometimes nontraditional, treatment approaches and to the coping techniques she learned with the help of others.Abstract Teaser