The one-page Recovery Plan

For the Recovery Plan. 10 minutes. Private on this device; nothing is sent anywhere. Not clinical advice.

Who it is for

You already have a longer plan, or you never will, and either way the person closest to you has no idea what to do at two in the morning. This card is for them, not you. It fits on one page because that is what someone can read while frightened.

The short version

1. Name the card for the person who gets it ("For Sam"), not for yourself.
2. Your circle (step 2): two or three people and one role each. The partner who notices; the friend who drives; the sibling who calls the clinic. Not a directory.
3. Steady, watch, urgent (step 3): one plain sentence for each. "Steady: I am sleeping and answering texts. Watch: I am up past two and starting projects. Urgent: I have not slept in two nights or I am talking about leaving."
4. What helps and hard noes (step 4): the hard noes matter more. "Do not take my keys without telling me" prevents the fight that makes everything worse.
5. Escalation (step 5): the one condition under which they call someone without asking you first. Write it as a rule, so nobody has to decide it in the moment.
6. Print two. One on their fridge, one in your bag.

A worked example

An invented reader, so the mechanics are visible. Your answers will differ.

Suppose "watch" for you is spending: new subscriptions, a second delivery in a day. Step 3 says so in those words. Step 4 says "helps: ask me what I bought today, out loud, no judgement. Hard no: do not cancel my cards." Step 5 says "urgent: if I open a new credit line, call my brother." The person holding the card now has a script for the awkward conversation and a line they do not have to invent.

The one thing

Give it to the person in a calm week and read it together once. The card is the excuse for the conversation; the conversation is the tool.

Evidence: what bipolar costs, and who pays it.

Open the Recovery Plan →