In Part 2 of this series on rest, Lois and Faye step back from individual burnout and look at the bigger picture. How do trauma, social conditions, and deficit focused psychology shape the way we see ourselves, our brains, and our need for rest, especially when we are neurodivergent.
Faye shares how her training in psychology left her frustrated with how much of the field is focused on “what is wrong,” from pathologizing labels like “disorder” to symptom lists that rarely ask where those symptoms came from in the first place. She talks about work that frames ADHD as an adaptation to early environments and unmet needs, and how that lens of survival, rather than brokenness, has changed the way she understands herself and others.
Lois and Faye explore how trauma, inequality, and lack of support show up in addiction, self medication, and even in the school to prison pipeline. They talk about the energy, creativity, and drive that often get channeled into risky or criminalized behavior when people are desperate for dopamine, belonging, or a sense of purpose, and how much potential is lost when systems focus only on deficits rather than strengths.
From there, the conversation returns to the heart of the series: rest. Faye introduces the idea of the seven types of rest, including physical, mental, emotional, sensory, social, spiritual, and creative. She shares how weight lifting helps her regulate her emotions, how sitting in a dark cinema alone gives her sensory and emotional rest, and how films allow her to process feelings that are hard to access directly. Lois talks about finding rest in walking, cleaning as a mindful practice, decorating her home, dancing all night sober to old school club music, and laughing at stand up comedy.
They also name the ways we drift into unhealthy coping when we are not getting enough genuine rest, from overdrinking to chasing risky dopamine, and how easy it is to tell ourselves that we do not have time to pause until the body finally forces the issue with illness or burnout.
✨ How psychology and language have focused on “what is wrong” instead of what is adaptive or strong
✨ Trauma, unmet needs, and the idea of ADHD as an early life adaptation
✨ Addiction, dopamine, and the thin line between survival coping and self sabotage
✨ The seven types of rest and how they show up in everyday life
✨ Exercise, cinema, comedy, and solitude as real forms of rest for a neurodivergent brain
✨ Learning to notice when you are self medicating instead of truly resting
Part 2 widens the lens on rest, inviting listeners to see their brains not as broken, but as responsive and creative, and to explore many different kinds of rest that can support a nervous system that has been working in survival mode for far too long.