Relapse Prevention

BRIEF WARNING SIGNS

Abdullah Baniyameen
baniyameen@aol.com
September 13, 2009

INTERNAL CHANGE:

۩ I start using old way of thinking, managing feelings, and behaving that make me look good on the outside.
۩ I get more stress than usual, and my recovery program seems less important.
۩ Deep inside I start to feel like something is wrong, but I try to cover it up.
۩ My mood swing from feeling on top of the world to feeling like nothing is working out.

DENIAL:

۩ I stop paying attention to or honestly telling others what I’m thinking and feeling.
۩ I start worrying about the changes in my thinking, feelings, and behavior.
۩ I go into denial and try to convince myself that everything is alright when I know that it really isn’t.

AVOIDANCE & DEFENSIVENESS:

۩ I avoid people who will honestly point out the problems that I don’t want to see.
۩ I blame them for making me feel bad.
۩ I start using compulsive behaviors to keep my mind off of how uncomfortable I’m feeling.
۩ I start creating problems for myself by using poor judgment and impulsive doing things without thinking them through.
۩ I start feeling uncomfortable around others, so I spend more time alone, and begin to feel lonely and isolated.

CRISIS BUILDING:

۩ I start having problems that I don’t understand.
۩ No matter how hard I try, nothing seems to work.
۩ I begin to feel depress and try to distract myself by getting busy with other things and not talking about the depression.
۩ I can’t see the big picture and I start doing things that won’t really help.
۩ I stop planning ahead.

IMMOBILIZATION:

۩ I feel trapped in an endless stream of unmanageable problems.
۩ I get tied of putting time and energy into things that aren’t working.
۩ I exaggerate small problems and blow them out of proportion.
۩ I begin to feel like a failure that can’t do anything right.
۩ I start wishing I could run away or that something magical would happen to rescue me from my problems.

CONFUSION AND OVERREACTING:

۩ I have trouble thinking clearly and solving usually simple problems.
۩ I get irritated with other people because they don’t understand me and can’t seem to help me.
۩ I become easily angered and start to take it out on my friends and family.
۩ I start making bad decision that I wouldn’t have made if I were thinking clearly.

DEPRESSION:

۩ I get so depressed that I can’t do thing I normally do.
۩ I feel life is not worth living and sometimes I think about killing myself or drinking alcohol / using drugs as a way to end depression.
۩ I can’t get started or get anything done.
۩ I find it hard to keep appointments and plan ahead.

LOSS OF CONTROL:

۩ I start doing things that violate my values, hurt me, and hurt those I love.
۩ I find excuses to miss therapy and self help meetings.
۩ I get isolated that it seems there’s no one to turn for help.
۩ I feel trapped by the pain and start to believe I will never be able to manage my life. I see only three possible ways out of insanity, suicide, or going back to use.

THINKING ABOUT USING:

۩ I start to think that by using will help me feel better and solve my problems.
۩ Things seem so bad that I begin to think I might as well use because things couldn’t get any worse.
۩ I try to convince myself that I can use my addictive behaviors without losing control or developing serious problems, even though deep inside I know I can’t.

RELAPSE:

۩ I try to solve my problems and feel better by using.
۩ Although I rationalize my behavior, deep inside I know that by using drugs won’t work and will hurt me in the long run.
۩ I feel myself losing control and get disappointed because the using isn’t doing for me what I thought it would.
۩ The problem continues and get worse until I realize that I need help.
۩ At that point I decide to try recovery one more time.

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