Executive dysfunction
 

I was wondering if anyone here experiences executive dysfunction on a regular basis. I have so much trouble with it. I just can't find the motivation to do things. It's so difficult to complete tasks, but then I feel ashamed and mad at myself for not completing tasks, so it turns into a spiral of self-loathing. It usually never ends well, but I am trying to pull out of these spirals as they happen, or better yet, have them not happen at all. Does anyone have any suggestions to deal with this problem?

Re: Executive dysfunction
 

Hey Eli,

I do not talk about it often but I struggle with this. Two of the things I struggle with most are cleaning and cooking. My house used to be quite a mess but my husband and I recently had to clean it. Cooking is still difficult and I still do a lot of frozen meals. I have noticed that cooking is easier when I am no longer depressed or anxious. I was doing the meal deliveries and that was good and helped give me some good meals to cook, however, I fell into a deep state of anxiety and was not cooking.

Have you found anything to be helpful in overcoming this? I know some people say do a little at a time and I think that is a good idea however, that can seem overwhelming when the house is messy or what have you. It might help to have someone close to you help support you, periodically. I know having support from my husband with cleaning helps quite a bit.

Re: Executive dysfunction
 

I personally don't struggle with this but my boyfriend has ADHD and it's common for those with ADHD to struggle with executive dysfunction.

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris is a great book to introduce ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) principles into your life. It's aimed at depression/anxiety but ACT is also effective for ADHD and executive dysfunction. I gifted this to my boyfriend last year, he's not typically a reader but he blew through it in no time and said that it helped make sense of a lot of the feelings he had about a lot of his struggles, especially with executive dysfunction, and the resulting self-loathing.