Tag: addiction

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!

Book an appointment