In the USA, approximately 10 million adults suffer from ADHD.

As a young adult, ADHD might be linked to depression, substance abuse, and mood or conduct disorders. Adults with ADHD quite often handle difficulties in their personal and family lives, as well as at work. Many of them perform inconsistently at work and have difficulties with their daily responsibilities. It is also common to experience problems in their relationships. As well as all this, they can feel frustration, blame, or guilt.

Those with ADHD can also have a problem maintaining attention, with their working memory, and with executive function. It has recently been discovered that when there is a problem with executive function, the individual can have difficulties with their academic or career success. Executive function is the ability of the brain to manage and prioritise thoughts and actions. A flow-on effect of executive function is for the individual to be aware of long-term consequences for their actions, and to also guide their behaviour more efficiently. If there are problems with executive function, the individual might have problems remembering important things, or completing tasks.

Executive function is judged by the strength of these seven skills:

1. Self-awareness: Quite simply, this is self-directed attention.

2. Inhibition: Also known as self-restraint.

3. Non-Verbal Working Memory: The ability to hold things in your mind, or, in other words, picturing things mentally.

4. Verbal Working Memory: Self-speech, or internal speech. Most people think of this as their “inner monologue.”

5. Emotional Self-Regulation: The ability to take the previous four executive functions and use them to manipulate your own emotional state. This means learning to use words, images, and your own self-awareness to process and alter how we feel about things.

6. Self-motivation: How well you can motivate yourself to complete a task when there is no immediate external consequence.

7. Planning and Problem Solving: Experts sometimes like to think of this as “self-play” — how we play with information in our minds to come up with new ways of doing something. By breaking problems down and putting them back together differently, we are planning solutions to our problems.

When people with ADHD receive the proper treatment, they can learn to strengthen their executive functions over time.

A professional ADHD coach is trained specifically to assist people who have ADHD. They can help the individual overcome challenges with their executive function, help them achieve their goals, and assist them to live happier and healthier lives.

To contact Jack with any questions or comments, or to arrange a free and confidential initial conversation about ADHD coaching, please click here or call Jack on 0400-582-666 (from Australia) or +61-400-582-666 (international)