What can leisure offer those with a mental illness : diversion, experience or something much richer?

Leisure, risk and safety are for most leisure practitioners across the globe, thoughts that arise in quick succession to determine the viability of a leisure intervention. However, in a risk aware world so focused on safety, is Leisure too safely structured to be truly beneficial to the individual?, Rarely are leisure seekers given the opportunity to fail and to learn from that experience. Lack of opportunity to face adversity in a supported way hinders the individual’s ability to learn and grow, and to develop personal resilience as a result. This paper will discuss Recovery Camp, a Therapeutic Recreation initiative developed in Australia which utilizes experiential leisure to facilitate resilience in individuals with a mental illness. This paper aims to discuss Leisure Boredom data obtained from volunteer consumers attending recovery camp in 2014 and its relationship to an individual’s personal resilience in the context of living in recovery from mental illness. Importantly Theraputic Recreation interventions such as Recovery Camp should be seen as a valuable experiential alternative to assist in the personal growth and development of those from a vulnerable population.