For me, one way I know I'm relapsing is when I *totally* lack patience with other people's illness. I've been in crisis because of things like a daughter missing (found safe, but oh, those days when you don't know... !!!) or a divorce, or homelessness. All of those things have caused major trauma for me. In group therapy, if I'm not doing well, I really have a hard time with people who hallucinate or have delusions. "I haven't got time for this. My problems are real, not imaginary like yours. Nobody is trying to poison you, so shut up about it and let me get the help I need." (No, I haven't actually said that to anyone--but I've come awfully close to it.)

I understand that when someone is hallucinating, that person doesn't *know* he or she is hallucinating. They think it's real, and react accordingly. But when I am not doing well, I just have trouble dealing with that.

So, over time, I've learned to watch myself with other people. When I start getting snippy over something a person can't help, I go on alert and focus on relapse prevention.

What are some early warning signs that some of you might pick up?

[chaotic13]

When I become hyper-sensitive to various daily stimuli. When I am feeling down or under stress little sounds or smells trigger me. I don't know how to stop it when it starts. For example breathing, snoring and or coughing sounds, the smell of cigarette smoke, sound of rustling papers. They all become magnified some how.

[splitimage]

When I stop caring about how my apartment looks - normally I'm a neat freak, but when I'm slipping into a depressive episode, the first thing that goes is apartment upkeep.

--splitimage