Restorgenesis - Reflections about recovery

This article presents a new concept, "restorgenesis," which integrates the different aspects comprising the recovery process. Restorgenesis addresses issues related to the essence of rehabilitation, such as defining the patient's potential for recovery, the milestones of the recovery process and the facilitators, as well as the inhibitory factors involved. The concept is a hybrid of two existing notions: "pathogenesis," the definition of the factors inherent in the individual and his or her environment that cause illness, and "salutogenesis," the definition of factors pertaining to the individual as well as the environment that promote health. We suggest that the notion of restorgenesis embraces the processes of rebuilding and equilibration that form the basis of the recovery process. Finally, we address the relevance of the recently introduced concept of allostasis, namely, the psychological and physiological factors related to the human system's optimal functioning, particularly during the process of rehabilitation.