Exec Function / Self Regulation

ADHD is often described in terms of inattention/distractibility and impulsivity/hyperactivity, but these symptoms are now understood to arise from a deficit in areas of Executive Function, each of which is a form of Self Regulation.

Executive functioning can be considered analogous to the role of a company’s Chief Executive – setting direction and goals, maintaining an overview of all activities to stay on track, managing time and resources, etc.  It’s the processing that goes on in your brain to enable you to work out how to reach a future goal, and take the necessary steps towards it.

|     Self-awareness     |     Inhibition     |     Non-verbal working memory     |     Verbal working memory     |     Emotional self-regulation      |     Self-motivation     |     Planning & problem-solving      |
 

Here’s a brief explanation of these terms, and how they relate to self-regulation…

• Self-awareness:     self-directed attention
• Inhibition:     self-restraint
• Non-verbal working memory:     your “mind’s eye”, using visual imagery or replaying to yourself sights, conversations, smells, or other sensory experiences you’ve already had. This contributes directly to “learning from experience” (or not!)
• Verbal working memory:     your “mind’s voice”, talking to yourself (usually in your head so people don’t look at you strangely)
• Emotional self-regulation:     inhibiting emotions that are counterproductive to your goal, or not appropriate in the social setting
• Self-motivation:     the ability to start, and continue, an activity that doesn’t offer immediate reward
• Planning & problem-solving:     self-directed play, manipulating information in your mind