ADHD: Erectile Dysfunction of the Mind

I was scrolling through social media the other day (as usual when I'm bored and needing stimulation) and came across a stout looking doctor type referring to ADHD as "erectile dysfunction of the mind".  I giggled a little bit and thought, "that's fucking funny".

But then again, it's not that fuckin' funny...

As much as I enjoyed the sentiment -- I hated it. It's a neurological disorder wreaking havoc on my and so many other's lives, requiring constant self-monitoring, regulation, and medication. Christ, wake-up feeling slightly off and that's it, the day's fucked (unless you're equipped with techniques to work through it).

The internet (TikTok) is chock-a-block with people creating funny and relatable content on dealing with ADHD. A lot of what ends up happening is very funny, but every one of these people will also tell you how difficult lliving with ADHD is: work, relationships, chores -- everything.

The work these creators are doing is vastly important to the condition being taken seriously. For so long, the condition has been reduced to hyperactive boys, skipping over girls, and further reduced to being only about attention issues (which just isn't the case). ADHD goes well beyond being an attention disorder that makes teaching inconvenient.

In adulthood (childhood too), people face ADHD symptoms like regulating emotion, impulse control (the severity depending on your ADHD archetype), rejection dysphoria (a topic in and of its own), task paralysis, and so much more, which I will speak of in more details later in the article.

It's all related to the brains ability (or lack of) to regulate baseline dopamine levels, something neurotypical people are not afflicted by. Dopamine is the brains motivation neurotransmitter (amongst others), and is ultimately responsible for the action and completion of any task.

Without dopamine, and dopamine receptors, humans would be an extinct species. One would simply die of thirst lying next to a pool of fresh water, because the neurotransmitter responsible for you drinking it is missing. Wild, eh? So next time you see you ADHDer sitting around, seemingly unable to get going -- get them in a cold shower, outside and moving, and give them favorite caffinated beverage. It's possibly the greatest help you can offer.

Alright, so what is it? What is "erectile dysfunction of the mind"?

Here's a great description and analogy provided by the bright minds of Harvard University:

"The phrase “executive function” refers to a set of skills. These skills underlie the capacity to plan ahead and meet goals, display self-control, follow multiple-step directions even when interrupted, and stay focused despite distractions, among others.

Much like an air traffic control system at an airport helps planes on different runways land and take off safely, executive function skills help our brains prioritize tasks, filter distractions, and control impulses."

Let me tell you a quick story...

I once tried to explain ADHD and executive dysfunction to a colleague. Objectively, a very smart person, but just couldn't wrap her head around the concept of not being able to do something you know you need to do. 

She said, "... but that doesn't make sense. If I know I have to do something, even if I don't want to -- I just do it!" 

I kindly explained, "That's because because you have well regulated levels of dopamine in your brain".

If you spend you spend enough time on the internet reading about ADHD, you will inevitably come across people talking about how ADHDers don't see just the task, they see a list of steps connected to the completion of each tasks. And this appears to a very common occurance for most ADHDers.

Example: Put the dishes in the dishwasher.

Neurotypical sees: Dishes in -- done. 

Neurodivergent sees: empty dish washer, scrape food off dirty dishes, trash is full (must take out trash), no clean clothes, have to do laundry, no laundry detergent -- bpppt! Overwhelmed, dopamine vanished, mental paralysis, stay in, do nothing, continue thinking about everything still needing to be done,  feel shame, self-deprecation, switches to task that gives dopamine to try and get out of it, nothing gets done, depressed.

Reading about executive function issues might sound terrifying and make you think that every ADHDer is basically useless, the truth is far different. I promise it's not full-on everyday, and there is also a list of benefits ADHDers wield in their arsenal. More on that (and challenges) later.

Executive functions are not 100% compromised all the time. Sometimes things line up and the brain is balanced and effecive. Other times, the brain acts...crummy. Like anything else, not everyone's executive functions are affected in the same way. Your type of ADHD (the internal), and environment and routine (the external) impact executive functioning, too. The internal dictates the type of symptoms you experience and how often, and the external can impact  how these symptoms are activated and experienced. Things like cleanliness and noise, and visual stimulation. The article will also dive deeper into that later on as well.