My Relapse Warning Signs

Relapse is rarely a bolt from the blue - it's usually a countdown that builds for hours, days, or weeks before the moment. The thoughts, moods, and behaviors that show up on the way down are your personal warning signs. Once you know your countdown, you can spot it starting and step in early, long before you're at the edge.

Relapse has a runway: Almost no one goes from steady to acting out with zero lead-up. There's a sequence - and it's usually similar each time. Learn yours and you can interrupt it while there's still plenty of runway left.

My early warning signs

Tick the signs that tend to show up on your way toward a slip.

• [ ] Skipping recovery routines (meetings, check-ins)
• [ ] Isolating, going quiet with my people
• [ ] Rising stress, resentment, or self-pity
• [ ] Romanticizing the behavior / 'it wasn't that bad'
• [ ] Secrecy creeping back
• [ ] Poor sleep, skipped meals, running ragged
• [ ] Lingering near old cues

My countdown order

Warning signs often arrive in a rough order. What usually comes first for you, and what comes near the end?

My earliest warning sign (the first domino):

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

A late warning sign (I'm close to the edge):

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

My early intervention

When I spot an early sign, here's exactly what I'll do:

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Catch the first domino: You don't have to fight the urge at full strength - you have to notice the countdown starting. The earlier you catch it, the smaller the action needed to stop it. Tell someone the moment the countdown begins; that breaks it fastest.

Go deeper

Ready for more? These lessons pick up where this worksheet leaves off.

• Relapse Prevention: Seeing the Warning Signs, from Sex Addiction Recovery. Relapse is a process, not an event.
• The Three Circles, from Sex Addiction Recovery. The Three Circles turn 'stop' into a usable map: bottom lines, warning signs, and a life worth protecting.
• Riding the Wave: Emotions & the Window of Tolerance, from Sex Addiction Recovery. Acting out is often an attempt to escape a flooded or numb nervous system.