So you've found yourself drinking or using drugs again? Or perhaps you haven't reached that stage yet, but all the red flags are waving, and it seems to be only a matter of time before you pick up a drink or drug.

Or maybe you're not an alcoholic or drug user, but have other self-destructive behaviours that you seem to have relapsed into. For example, it is fairly common to reach a nice, stable place of recovery from mental health issues, only to have a few blips and bumps in the road where you return to negative thinking or behaviours.

This post is designed to give you links to the best information I can provide about recovering from relapse - all in one place! Let me tell you, I know a lot about relapse, having been there over and over again before finding strong and solid sobriety. I suffered relapse not only onto alcohol, but also slid back into negative mental health and unhelpful thinking and behaviours.

Given my expert knowledge of the dark pit of relapse, the way not to recover, and finally the way to recover properly, I thought I'd share some of my top tips with you.

I've written a handy article with the top things you need to do to recover from a relapse and get back on track with your sobriety. Or in the case of people with mental health issues, to return to your recovery and reach a place where you're helping yourself again. You can read my article Recovering from relapse: The 7 R’s on Addiction Blog now. The blog has lots of other brilliant and helpful information for people with addictions and related issues, including more posts on relapse and how to deal with it.

There are also a lot of resources on my YouTube channel, including playlists dedicated to addiction recovery and mental health. Here's a video about what causes a relapse in the first place ---->

And here's another below about how to structure your recovery to avoid relapse:

Do subscribe to receive all the best relapse-related info for free!

Remember you can always check out my books, too, which include the basics of recovery, and how to build more helpful thinking and a happier life, which will protect you from relapse.

If you have relapsed, remember it's not the end of the world - it's a chance to come back stronger! Good luck!

by Beth Burgess, Therapist and author of The Recovery Formula and The Happy Addict.