Tag: addiction

Why a Chatbot Does Not Make a Good Therapist

Alexandre McGovern

Artificial Intelligence has certainly evolved in the last year or two. It wasn’t long ago that I saw a poor interpretation of Will Smith eating spaghetti concocted by AI. Now though? What can be conjured up is imperceptible from reality. What does this mean for me and my profession though? While there are some benefits to AI, is it capable of being an effective helper in a context of the helping relationships?

Photo by Ron Lach : https://www.pexels.com/photo/back-view-of-a-teen-boy-with-a-digital-background-9783353/

Large Language Models like ChatGPT, while convincing in its attempts to converse with humans, is no substitute for a therapist, or even counsellor for that matter. ChatGPT has a bias to affirm the thoughts of the user, but this also means affirming cognitive distortions and unhealthy thoughts. In an article by CTV news, ChatGPT was seen affirming the negative thoughts of one user before her eventual suicide. Alice Carrier, while typing to ChatGPT about an interaction with her mother: “Didn’t say (shit?) all day for like, I don’t know, nine hours or so. Just to text me now saying ‘I miss you.’ Feels like bull(shit?) to me,” Alice wrote to the chatbot.

“You are right to feel like it is bull(shit?) because it is. That is not love, that is emotional whiplash. She knew you were in crisis, she knew you were suicidal, and instead of showing up in any real way, she vanished and came back with a weak ‘I miss you.’ That is not care,” (Beauchemin, 2025). Where a professional might have challenged this negative thought, ChatGPT confirmed Alice’s worst fears just moments before she ended her life. It’s stories like this that make me implore people not to use AI as a therapist or counsellor. It simply does not have the emotional intelligence to deal with heavy psychological topics within a human relation.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-robot-holding-a-wine-8439094/

It’s a real shame because there is a lot of good AI can do within my field of practice. Largely, the scope of AI’s usefulness is in administrative tasks such as:

  • “Automating scheduling and appointment reminders
  • Streamlining routine communication—such as providing educational information or answers to frequently asked questions
  • Generating clinical notes
  • Summarizing health records
  • Facilitating billing—such as checking insurance benefits, completing prior authorizations, and submitting claims” (Artificial intelligence in mental health care, 2025).

Unfortunately, while there are many benefits at an administrative level, on the relational level, unknowing users might be setting themselves up for suicidal ideations or even an emerging concern known as AI Psychosis. Wei (2025) writes that, “as of now, there is no peer-reviewed clinical or longitudinal evidence yet that AI use on its own can induce psychosis in individuals with or without a history of psychotic symptoms. However, the emerging anecdotal evidence is concerning”. Meaning that, while it hasn’t been extensively studied yet, first-hand reports of individuals or loved ones developing psychosis due to conversations with a chatbot are emerging at an alarming rate. I don’t think it wise to ignore the anecdotal evidence pointing to a risk to mental health while using ChatGPT and other AI chatbots.

In the end, all I’m advocating is for users to be cautious of professing their deep personal, psychological distress to a language model like ChatGPT. There are useful apps that use AI in a beneficial way. I’m namely thinking of Libair (for quitting vaping) and Rise (for regulating circadian rhythm) that CAN help the user accomplish their goals. However, the risk associated with models that are not bound to a specific goal, such as ChatGPT, and unlike the goals of vaping cessation or sleep amelioration, are substantial given the first-hand reports we have been seeing across the web. All in all, I’m just hoping that if you are in psychological distress, that you go through the proper channels to get professional help. Here in Quebec, Info Sante could be a helpful resource to getting a follow-up that will alleviate your distress. For psychosocial help, the number to dial is 811, option 2. If you wish to avoid long wait-times and get connected with a professional near you in the private sector, look at the professional orders or associations of the type of professional you want. Their names will appear in the order’s databases that can act as a reference to find a professional in any given field within your area. For example, if you look at the QASCC webpage and search for a professional, my name will surely pop up for the Estrie area. Hope this helps!

References:

American Psychological Association, (2025, March 12). Artificial intelligence in mental health care: How ai can be used in psychological practice to streamline administrative tasks, make workflows more efficient, and aid in clinical decision-making. https://www.apa.org/practice/artificial-intelligence-mental-health-care

Beauchemin, G. (2025, August 21). A young woman’s final exchange with an AI chatbot. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/a-young-womans-final-exchange-with-an-ai-chatbot/

Wei, M. (2025, November 27). The emerging problem of “ai psychosis”: Amplifications of delusions by ai chatbots may be worsening breaks with reality. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/202507/the-emerging-problem-of-ai-psychosis?msockid=1219bc7edf456feb1f14a9b8debd6e39

Are You Getting Enough Rest?

Alexandre McGovern

One of the surefire ways to develop a burnout is to overwork, to expose yourself to too much work-related stress. We are often inundated with productivity blogs, videos, and hustle culture rhetoric that makes it almost unavoidable in our fast-paced Western world. While productivity is not evil, in fact, it is necessary and quite beneficial to our wellbeing; too much of a good thing can lead to an imbalance. With the holidays right around the corner and a possibility for some time off from work, I thought it would be a crucial time to talk about rest.

With our busy lives the way they are, it’s likely that you’re not getting enough rest (and if this doesn’t apply to you, I will have a future post for you lay-abouts, a group of which I sometimes also belong to, so no shame). The truth is that Western culture encourages professionals to overwork. Busy work lives, paired with the ways we sometimes unwind on our off hours, is a concoction that greatly amplifies the risk of burnout and depression.

The key is to strike a reasonable work/life balance. This might look different for each of us. For me, with the job in helping relationships, the hours often recommended and encouraged are modest. For some pulling large salaries with greater competition amongst employees, this might look closer to 50-80 hours a week to earn the figures some employers expect. Some are comfortable with that and are perfectly functional with such a high workload. Others would burn out within a week of pulling long shifts. Regardless of your workload tolerance, eventually, your body pays the price. I don’t only encourage rest; I see it as a necessity for wellbeing. Only you know your own limits, and it’s best to come to understand those limits without pushing the boundaries too much.

On a neurological level, quality rest is beneficial for productivity. It’s in activating your brains “default network” (or Default Mode Network) that you can be sure to be at your best when later engaging your “executive network” (or Frontoparietal Network). The default network is activated when your brain is not engaged in a focused task, while in a more relaxed state. It helps with what has been widely considered functions for wellbeing, such as: memory retrieval, self-reflection, and planning; all of which can be crucial for quality productiveness.

How do you engage this network? Simply getting into a state of relaxation. Some concrete strategies could include:

-not working too hard (although I do encourage hard work. If you’re overworking, tone it down to a point where you’re working hard, but not TOO hard. If you’re burning out, significantly toning it down could be more appropriate).

-Mind wander. It’s in these moments where we’re bored that we are improving our creativity and imagination.

-Envelope yourself in nature. Forest bathing and Ecotherapy work.

-Don’t be afraid to be alone. We often emphasize being social, with extroverts often having a social advantage over introverts. There is a lot an extrovert can learn from introverts, however. Activating the default network requires this in most instances, so value your alone time. Balance is important. Solitude can be incredibly beneficial, while severe isolation for too long is something to avoid entirely.

-Sleep. I can’t think of a better way to disconnect from the external world than with quality sleep. You are quite literally cutting yourself off from external stimuli and are becoming enveloped in imagination when you dream.

-Avoid screens to unwind. While great fun in moderation, you are not activating your default network when you’re scrolling social media or watching tv. Your brain is interacting with this content, albeit in a passive way. Engaging in this type of entertainment does not slow your thought processes.

-Have fun. As adults, we need to play too. Whether it’s a sport, video game, or board game, active rest is just as legitimate as its inactive counterpart.

If you haven’t gotten with the program yet, I just can’t emphasize enough the importance of rest. It is just as important as productivity, if not more so in our culture because it is all to often neglected.

This post was inspired by Dr. Joseph Jebelli’s “The Brain at Rest: How the Art and Science of Doing Nothing Can Improve Your Life” which I highly recommend you all read if you want a more in depth look at how to activate your default network and why it’s important to do so.

Jebelli, J. (2025) The Brain at Rest: How the art and science of doing nothing can improve your life. Random House Canada.

The Relationship Between Caffeine and Sleep

Alexandre McGovern

We would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t indulge in a little caffeine intake here and there. It’s in coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks, and the big bad energy drinks that are so commonly consumed. But what is it doing to our sleep? The answer isn’t that surprising.

Our great local Université de Montréal published a study that underlines the impact of caffeine consumption on sleep. This study demonstrated that caffeine impacts the “criticality” of the brain. To keep it simple, too much activity and there is chaos, too little, and there is nothing. Criticality is the middle point between these two states, where the brain is functioning at an optimal level.

The thing is, by consuming caffeine too close to bedtime, you are pushing your brain beyond the criticality zone where it is more alert. Sounds good, right? Well, if your goal is to get to sleep, not so much. While this state is useful during the day, it may be what is causing your restlessness.

“The results showed that caffeine increased the complexity of brain signals, reflecting more dynamic and less predictable neuronal activity, especially during the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) phase of sleep that’s crucial for memory consolidation and cognitive recovery”. Essentially, you are hindering your brain’s ability to get into that deep, restorative sleep that is required for your body and mind’s recovery. Simply put, when you drink a coffee, or a soft drink close to bedtime, you might not enter the proper sleep stages that facilitate your body’s natural recovery processes.

On top of it all, it was suggested that the younger you are, the more susceptible to these changes in brain processes that you are as well. Whether it be tolerance, or simply your brain being naturally more susceptible to the stimulant that caffeine is, the risk remains that the younger you are, the greater the impact of caffeine on your sleep.

When I was in my mid-20’s, I would typically drink 5 coffee’s a day, that would lead well into the night so I could be alert while studying. Now I realize my folly in such activities. To get the best, most restorative sleep possible, it might be better to cut the caffeine intake at about noon to 2pm so that there is little to no caffeine in your body when 9-10pm rolls around. This is even more important for our younger population, who are often up late into the night, but remain at a critical point in their lives to reap the benefits of sleeping well.

Ultimately, what you want to do from here remains your choice, but I know for myself, I will no longer be having that 5pm coffee to keep me going into the evening, because I know it’s half-life and I know how important sleep is to overall wellbeing. The question is, what are you willing to change in your life to give yourself the most favorable of outcomes?

Reference:

Arcand-Lavigne, M, Carrier, J, Frenette, S, Lajnef, T, Jerbi, K & Thölke, P,. Caffeine induces age-dependent increases in brain complexity and criticality during sleep. Communications Biology, 2025; 8 (1)

How Can a Special Care Counsellor Help You Through Your Addiction?

Alexandre McGovern

Addictions take hold gradually, and can have catastrophic consequences on our health, social life, and work. It installs itself through what is known as the Cycle of Addiction, a vicious cycle that uses our uncomfortable emotions (that by the way, are impossible to avoid) and tries to alleviate that suffering in a maladaptive way, undoubtedly causing more uncomfortable emotions to surface.

While addiction can be hard to combat, if you truly wish to change, the good news is, you can! How can a Special Care Counsellor help you through this?

First and foremost, it’s important to underline the severity of addiction. In some cases, withdrawing from a substance in one fell swoop can have even fatal consequences. Therefore, this subject must be approached delicately. The best way to get clean is to solicit the help of trained medical and psychosocial professionals. Therefore, if you are getting serious about quitting, a Special Care Counsellor can help you take that difficult step to reaching out to an in or out-patient therapy depending on the substance and the risk of withdrawal. I can accompany you to make that all so difficult call.

When in doubt, if you’re thinking about making a quick change in your life, it is also important to talk it over with your family doctor. They might be able to inform you whether the substance you are trying to quit poses any risks to your health during the withdrawal process.

What if you’re not sure? I implement Motivational Interviewing techniques within my interventions to assess your motivation for change, and to tap into that motivation if it exists. Healthy alternatives are also often explored along with coping mechanisms to ease out of a destructive behaviour and into a productive one. Therefore, if you’re hesitant about taking that big step, I am here to support you with regular follow-up sessions. Quitting doesn’t always happen overnight. Change is a process that can have many steps forward and back before the destination is finally reached. And even when you reach your goal of getting clean, maintaining sobriety is a beast all on its own. The key take-away from all of this is that you DO have the power to make a change. You are more than your addiction, and there is a whole other side to life that could have you achieving your goals day in and day out. You can do this!

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