How to Come Back After a Relapse

12 Strategies to Help You Recover from a Relapse

By Therese Borchard

It's a dreadful place.

Relapse.

Maybe you had hoped you'd never go there. Or maybe you stay awake at night fearing you will. Maybe you’ve just realized you’re already there.

I prefer to use the term "setback" when I get sucked back into the Black Hole of depression--bam!--stuck inside a brain that covets relief, any form of relief, and will do just about anything to get it. I call it "setback" not "relapse" because such times are certainly not the end of recovery. From depression or any addiction, a relapse merely gives you a new starting place for healing.

Since I've been struggling with this recently in my own life, I've laid out a dozen strategies to get unstuck, or to recover from a relapse.

Therese J. Borchard writes the Beyond Blue blog on Beliefnet.