BACKGROUND: Recovery research often describes recovery from mental illness as a complex individual process. In this article a social perspective on recovery is developed. AIMS: To ascertain which factors people regard as decisive to their own recovery and what makes them beneficial. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 58 persons in Sweden who had recovered from severe mental illness. Interviews were qualitatively analyzed using grounded theory. RESULTS: Three dimensions of contributing recovery factors were identified. Social relationships emerged as the core category throughout these dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that recovery processes are social processes in which social relationships play a key role.