ADHD is a cognitive disorder. If your brain were a computer, executive function (EF) would be a system in your computer. Studies have shown that a certain part of the brain that holds executive function is deficient in people with ADHD. For example, the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, which are neurotransmitters (chemicals that deliver messages to the brain and body), are impaired in ADHD brains. These neurotransmitters affect the development of executive functions.

At the same time, EF is not automatically created but has to be developed through parenting and skill training. Some people simply didn’t learn to organize, plan, focus, and regulate their emotions until adulthood because of their upbringing, and this is not necessarily due to ADHD but rather due to parents failing to build EF.

That’s why it’s a chicken-and-egg situation. Do I have ADHD, and is that why I don’t have EF? Or did I simply miss out on the opportunity to develop EF?

In my clinical experience, this is how I distinguish between the two:

Those with ADHD can learn strategies to develop EF but will require more conscious effort to follow through with new systems and strategies implemented. They may procrastinate in implementing these strategies even though they fully understand how to do so. In other words, the brain (not the person) experiences more resistance to change.

Meanwhile, those with EF dysfunction without ADHD have a better success rate in implementing new systems and strategies because the anticipation of better focus, organization, and planning can fuel their motivation to keep going with it.

So the key is not just to jump to a diagnosis and rely on medication, but to train EF as well!

It’s never too late for an adult to develop stronger EF skills!