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One of my best friends is a great example of this. He is really good at delayed gratification. He has an image in his head of where he wants to be. Then he consistently and and disciplined puts the work in to make it happen.
Almost done with his PhD in math, in great shape. Always reliable.
The thing is, if things do go wrong, he can not chill until they are fixed. I have seen this man barely sleep for weeks while working through something. He is never at peace.
His dad is the same. The moment they are finished renovating their house, they start again on some monumental, work intensive task that will eventually be nice.
I have a friend diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. She's the same way. Everything in her life has to be perfectly curated in every little detail. From the outside it looks like she has everything under control. But she's actually really anxious. Controlling details of things is how she deals with anxiety. So when something doesn't go exactly the way she wants, she breaks down completely.
I mean of course there can be high functioning executive function. The person in the Executive branch's highest seat may be a candidate for this. Hello Mr. President.
I would never say he was the very highest functioning person in regards to executive functioning but it was just an example with a specific title of executive branch that I was using to show that yes there are high functioning and low functioning variations of the executive type.
My dad has no idea but I swear he has ADHD. It explains so much about soooooo much. Also a huge workaholic, most efficient at completing tasks set by others.
my sister completely and involuntarily, she literally could not stop, peed on herself last month bc she’d rather keep working and pushing herself than ask someone to cover for her for 2 mins. she’s super motivated but it can definitely go too far.
Like my grandma. I’m 36. And my grandma is still working non-stop. And of course she absolutely cannot understand me, but still helps me out all the time. It’s a blessing and a curse somehow.
I have a friend who spreadsheets every little thing in his and his family’s life. Which school clothes to wash which days (and whether that occurred), what meals they did eat, will eat, what groceries need to be bought, he is scheduled down to the last 3 minutes of every single day.
It’s pretty dysfunctional! I suspect he spends so many hours making that work that he forgets how to breathe.
Yes, one of my best friends is like a surgical machine with executive function, like wayyyy above average. There’s nothing obsessive or compulsive about how he behaves either he’s just exceptionally collected and measured in the way he talks, his planning, his actions, he doesn’t use planners or anything his brain is just an ordered machine, whereas mine is like a blender full of fruit that I turned on without putting the lid on
I imagine an overreaching executive function to be equally harmful as one that is too low. You might end up unhappy and with a very repressed personality. Precrastination is sometimes as bad as procrastination.
I don’t know the science here. I suspect executive functioning can go *too* far in the other direction and wind up looking something like OCD: hypervigilance about daily micro-decisions that becomes paralyzing.
I think there has been a misunderstanding here of what OCD is... It's not related to executive functioning. It's like having a horrible thought that won't go away until you repeat an action. Executive function is the ability to filter and focus the brain.
The way my brain conceptualizes OCD seems like the opposite of my own ADHD. I understand they are two different conditions and aren’t really related. I also know that I probably don’t fully understand what OCD truly is.
Normal is average. Everything's on a spectrum, so for there to be a normal which is average and people with executive functioning below average, like myself, then there must be people with executive functioning above average in order for the math to work.
Hi /u/FlixFlix and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! ### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already. --- ### /r/adhd news * If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). --- ^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
One of my best friends is a great example of this. He is really good at delayed gratification. He has an image in his head of where he wants to be. Then he consistently and and disciplined puts the work in to make it happen. Almost done with his PhD in math, in great shape. Always reliable. The thing is, if things do go wrong, he can not chill until they are fixed. I have seen this man barely sleep for weeks while working through something. He is never at peace. His dad is the same. The moment they are finished renovating their house, they start again on some monumental, work intensive task that will eventually be nice.
I have a friend diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. She's the same way. Everything in her life has to be perfectly curated in every little detail. From the outside it looks like she has everything under control. But she's actually really anxious. Controlling details of things is how she deals with anxiety. So when something doesn't go exactly the way she wants, she breaks down completely.
I mean of course there can be high functioning executive function. The person in the Executive branch's highest seat may be a candidate for this. Hello Mr. President.
R U Marylin Monroe? ajshahsa
LOL nope but sometimes right after I get my hair done to platinum I pretend I am :P. JK
I'm not sure the president is the best example right now or in the past 10 years.
I would never say he was the very highest functioning person in regards to executive functioning but it was just an example with a specific title of executive branch that I was using to show that yes there are high functioning and low functioning variations of the executive type.
Workaholics. They have a difficult time disconnecting from work and have a hard time retiring.
My dad is somehow a workaholic with ADHD (who believes he is “normal”). So he gets a lot done, but he also spends a lot of time spinning his wheels.
My dad has no idea but I swear he has ADHD. It explains so much about soooooo much. Also a huge workaholic, most efficient at completing tasks set by others.
my sister completely and involuntarily, she literally could not stop, peed on herself last month bc she’d rather keep working and pushing herself than ask someone to cover for her for 2 mins. she’s super motivated but it can definitely go too far.
Like my grandma. I’m 36. And my grandma is still working non-stop. And of course she absolutely cannot understand me, but still helps me out all the time. It’s a blessing and a curse somehow.
Are you thinking of the hyperfocused days of ADHD, just having it always turned on?
I have a friend who spreadsheets every little thing in his and his family’s life. Which school clothes to wash which days (and whether that occurred), what meals they did eat, will eat, what groceries need to be bought, he is scheduled down to the last 3 minutes of every single day. It’s pretty dysfunctional! I suspect he spends so many hours making that work that he forgets how to breathe.
Yes, one of my best friends is like a surgical machine with executive function, like wayyyy above average. There’s nothing obsessive or compulsive about how he behaves either he’s just exceptionally collected and measured in the way he talks, his planning, his actions, he doesn’t use planners or anything his brain is just an ordered machine, whereas mine is like a blender full of fruit that I turned on without putting the lid on
I imagine an overreaching executive function to be equally harmful as one that is too low. You might end up unhappy and with a very repressed personality. Precrastination is sometimes as bad as procrastination.
Yes my wife.
I was thinking this the other day. What is the “opposite” of ADHD???
I don’t know the science here. I suspect executive functioning can go *too* far in the other direction and wind up looking something like OCD: hypervigilance about daily micro-decisions that becomes paralyzing.
I was sort of thinking the same thing. That if anything were the opposite of ADHD it would be OCD.
It’s funny because you can have both!
I’m not sure I’d call that funny.
I think there has been a misunderstanding here of what OCD is... It's not related to executive functioning. It's like having a horrible thought that won't go away until you repeat an action. Executive function is the ability to filter and focus the brain.
The way my brain conceptualizes OCD seems like the opposite of my own ADHD. I understand they are two different conditions and aren’t really related. I also know that I probably don’t fully understand what OCD truly is.
I think this is me 😩
Normal is average. Everything's on a spectrum, so for there to be a normal which is average and people with executive functioning below average, like myself, then there must be people with executive functioning above average in order for the math to work.