I've been through a cycle of recovery and relapse myself. Personally, I believe my relapses generally occur by not learning new ways to handle difficult, stressful or emotional situations - mood swings, grief, mania, excitement, money troubles, rejection etc - I'm fine at keeping the ship on course when things are easy or good, but when things change I react in learned, habitual ways. So my view is it's important to learn to slow down when these things occur and not react too quickly, try and think of different ways of dealing with whatever is bothering/troubling. I've still got a long way to go, but that's my personal view on recovery/relapse cycles.

When we recover, it's easy to remember the highs and good feelings from our habit and selectively forget all the trouble & difficulties that came along with it. If we're truly honest about the struggle lying ahead with a relapse, perhaps we wouldn't be so hasty