Illness Management and Recovery / IMR-A07-2
Personal Early Warning Signs — Practice worksheet
With a clinician, list personally meaningful early changes, possible alternative explanations, and agreed response steps.
15 minutes · Worksheet · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Casey notices less sleep and difficulty attending usual activities.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Changes can be noticed relative to an individual's usual pattern without self-diagnosis.
1. Choose a workable example
Use the fictional example below or an ordinary situation of your choosing. Keep identifying details out of shared copies.
2. Try the practice
With a clinician, list personally meaningful early changes, possible alternative explanations, and agreed response steps.
3. Compare possibilities
Generate at least two interpretations or options. Mark what you know, what you are guessing, and what remains outside your control.
4. Decide together
Which changes should prompt a planned conversation with your team? Choose one small action, a support request, or no action. Review the fit with your clinician when relevant.
Prompts for this resource
- My chosen or fictional situation, and what I know about it:
- My response to the practice task above:
- Which changes should prompt a planned conversation with your team?
- An optional next step, support, adaptation, or reason to stop:
Conceptual background
Illness Management and Recovery Evidence-Based Practices KIT — SAMHSA
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.