For anyone in recovery · Adults 18+

Recovery warning signs: what changes before things get worse?

Warning signs are personal. The aim is to notice early enough that you still have choices and support available.

1. Green: maintainI am generally connected. Action: keep routines, support and basic care going. Signs might be answering people, using support, reasonable sleep and food.
2. Amber: act earlySomething is slipping. Action: tell someone, reconnect, reduce isolation, return to basics. Signs might be isolating, feeling hurt or stuck, skipping routines.
3. Red: get support nowI should not manage this alone. Action: use trusted people and appropriate professional or crisis support. Signs might be lying or hiding, romanticising use, cutting off support.

Write your own

These are only examples. Yours might look different, so it helps to write down your own green, amber and red signs while things are calm.

How to use the three colours

Pick a regular time, perhaps once a week, and ask which colour you've mostly been in. It only takes a minute. If you give someone you trust a copy of your list, they can tell you when they see amber before you do.

Why amber matters most

Green takes care of itself, and red needs other people straight away. Amber is where you still have the most choice. Small things count here: answering a message you've been avoiding, getting to a meeting, going to bed on time, telling someone "I've been skipping things".

If you reach red

• Tell someone todayA person who knows, or a helpline if there's nobody. See the UK helplines.
• Make it harder to actChange where you are and who you're with.
• Get medical advice if alcohol is involvedIf you've been drinking heavily again, read this before stopping suddenly.
• If it has already happenedGo to after a slip.

If you need help now

EmergencyPolice, fire, ambulance999 SamaritansFree, any time, you can just talk116 123 All UK helplinesAlcohol, drugs, families, abuse, by nationOpen

From Chris Nugent, Quiet Strength Recovery. This comes from lived experience of addiction and recovery.

For adults 18+. Peer support and education from lived experience. Not medical treatment, and not a replacement for professional or emergency help. Outside the UK, use your local emergency number.