Recovering from depression can be one of the toughest times in your life and the last thing you would want is to go through it all over again. Unfortunately, depression is frequently a chronic disease, with people experiencing relapsing episodes.1
There are many things that can contribute to a relapse. For example, residual symptoms which remain after your mood has improved – such as cognitive symptoms like trouble concentrating, which is common between episodes2 – can increase your risk of relapse.3
When you are feeling well, there are steps you can take to maintain your positive state and reduce the risk of experiencing a relapse. Having a robust plan in place can also limit the severity or duration of depression if it ever does return.1
One thing you can do as part of this is to familiarise yourself with triggers which might indicate the start of an episode. Some of these apply to depression in general, and some will be personal to you. Being aware of these and managing them appropriately can help to prevent a relapse.1,4