How ADHD Affects Executive Function and Emotional Regulation
June 5, 2023
4 min read
Learn the signs and symptoms.
Written by Hayley Carr
You look forward to going to biology class each week, but today things don't go as planned. No matter how hard you try, you can’t focus. The professor explains each concept clearly as usual, but you are having trouble retaining the information. Before you know it, the class is over and you can’t recall a thing.
Balancing school, extracurricular, and a personal life can become a handful. But for a person with ADHD, distraction can become a daily frustration.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Neurodevelopmental disorders stem from abnormal brain development and cause multifaceted conditions to occur. As a result, impairments in cognition, communication, behaviour, and motor skills may be present.
Common observable symptoms can include hyperactivity, impulsivity, fidgeting, and aggressiveness. Some symptoms are less likely to be spotted: Inattentiveness, procrastination, distraction, difficulties with organisation, trouble focusing, and lack of time-management.
Each symptom associated with ADHD can make learning in an educational environment challenging. It can also impact day-to-day tasks outside of school and progress into adulthood. Let's take a deeper look at the signs and symptoms of ADHD.
Symptoms Affecting Executive Function
Executive function is a set of skills controlled by the prefrontal cortex of the brain. It consists of cognitive processes that allow us to meet our goals. People with ADHD don’t have as much control over their executive function leading to problems with:
Response inhibition. Staying focused and on task.
Working memory. ADHD can make short-term memory less reliable.
Task initiation.
Sustained attention.
Planning and prioritising.
Organisation.
For example, someone with ADHD might have trouble working on a tight deadline to finish an essay. They aren’t able to prevent themselves from being distracted, have a hard time remembering what they’re reading, and may have extra problems starting to write the essay.
Symptoms Affecting Emotional Regulation
Emotional regulation refers to how well we exert control over our emotional states and how we respond to our emotions.
Emotional regulation involves using a lot of executive function skills that you might take for granted: attention, planning, cognitive development, and language development.
People with ADHD often need to learn emotional regulation skills including:
Anger management. Preventing intense emotional outbursts at inappropriate times.
Noticing and naming emotions. Understanding your emotions helps you make sure to only act when they are in line with your values.
Tuning into physical symptoms. This might be noticing an elevated heart rate, sweating, or other signs that help you recognize an emotion you’re having.
Accepting emotions. Acknowledging the negatives of a situation, accepting how you feel, and putting strategies into place to deal with the emotions in a healthy manner.
Coping skills. This can include taking oneself out of a situation, engaging in mindfulness, or using hobbies as distractions from intense emotions.
Someone with ADHD is less likely to have the skills to deal with the end of a relationship in a healthy manner. It might cause emotional outbursts making you say something to your ex-significant partner that you may regret later or lead to self-destructive behaviours.
Symptoms Across Genders
Contrary to the belief, the stereotypes that suggest girls don’t get ADHD are incorrect. Any gender can get ADHD, but the signs and symptoms may differ.
In boys, the symptoms are often physical and can be disruptive.
They include:
Hyperactivity
Fidgeting
Aggressive behaviour
Frequently making noises
Easily distracted
Trouble following directions
Trouble with time management
Girls, for example, may also have trouble focusing but will not display physical symptoms of hyperactivity, causing us to miss the signs of ADHD.
These symptoms often include:
Difficulty learning
Difficulty starting or finishing tasks
Trouble staying focused or organised
Zoning out or daydreaming
Trouble following directions
Anxiety
When we look at ADHD symptoms in non-binary and transgender folks' - most reported symptoms connecting to the gender they grew up in and socialised as in childhood. ADHD can have a lasting impact on one's development regardless of gender. All genders experiencing ADHD have a higher probability of developing symptoms in depression and anxiety, difficulties with coping strategies, and lower self-efficiency.
How Resolvve Can Help
Resolvve provides accessible low-cost therapy for students and adults with ADHD. Our therapists understand the impact of ADHD. We use an approach integrating accessibility supports, therapies like DBT, career counselling and goals-based counselling. DBT is an effective treatment for ADHD as it works to validate and de-stigmatize the challenges associated with ADHD. The behavioural therapy addresses mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress intolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
We also treat symptoms that may have developed from ADHD such as depression and anxiety. At Resolvve, we are a judgement free space with a team who truly cares to help guide you in the right direction.
**Please note, this is article is not therapy or a replacement for it. Engaging with it does not constitute a therapeutic relationship of any kind with the writer. Please seek professional help if needed.**
