Maintaining mental health is an active, ongoing process, much like maintaining physical fitness. Relapse prevention research (Marlatt & Donovan, 2005) shows that people who proactively identify their triggers, recognize early warning signs, and have a concrete plan for self-care and coping are significantly less likely to experience symptom recurrence. More recent evidence confirms that structured preventive interventions can reduce depressive relapse rates by roughly half compared to treatment-as-usual (Bockting et al., 2018). This worksheet helps you build a personalized wellness maintenance plan organized into four domains: triggers to monitor, warning signs to watch for, self-care practices to sustain, and coping strategies to deploy when challenges arise.

Complete each column thoughtfully. In the first column, identify a specific trigger, warning sign, self-care activity, or coping strategy. In the second column, describe how you will monitor, practice, or implement it. In the third column, note how often you will check in with this item or practice it. Review and update this plan regularly, especially after periods of stress or symptom change.