ADHD, Executive Function, and Subpersonalities

There's a lot that goes on inside our heads every day - more than we could ever possibly know. But what exactly are all these processes? Well, many experts believe that the human mind contains seven different executive functions. These include self-awareness, inhibition, nonverbal working memory (short-term memory related to sensory and spatial information), verbal working memory (short-term memory related to speech and language), emotional regulation, motivational regulation, and planning and problem-solving (Executive Function, n.d.).

Recently, I had an experience that got me thinking about some of the ways people with ADHD struggle with these forms of executive (dys)function, from a transpersonal perspective. In Psychosynthesis, and Internal Family Systems (IFS) we often talk about Subpersonalities or Parts. Though IFS and Psychosynthesis were developed separately there’s a lot of similarities, the basic idea being that through traumatic experiences, both big and small, we have small parts of ourselves that take on roles to meet the needs around us such as “The Good Daughter/Son”, “The Overachiever” and these Subpersonalities are often stuck in the time, and energy of the event(s). John Rowan in his book Subpersonalities defines them as “a semipermanent and semi-autonomous region of the personality capable of acting as a person” (Rowan, 1989, p. 6).

The causes of ADHD are unknown, current research shows that genetics plays an important role. Scientists are studying cause(s) and risk factors in an effort to find better ways to manage and reduce the chances of a person having ADHD. While the precise reason for ADHD is unknown, there are several factors that increase a person's risk of developing it, such as environmental factors including trauma. Traits of executive dysfunction can be found in the manifestations of the subpersonalities, and perhaps are a contributing factor for the development of ADHD.

Example from my own life, one of my subpersonalities has a need and desire to play small with my life to “keep me safe”. Behaviors that seem to come along when this subpersonality is strongly in charge are struggles with emotional regulation, planning, and motivation. This subpersonality is stuck in the energy of an 11 year old dealing with trauma and knowing the best way to avoid more is to not make waves, not do one’s best, because doing one’s best is what makes other people angry and they hurt you. This internal message, along with the trauma I was experiencing, could have been one of the environmental triggers which allowed the genetic predisposition for ADHD to manifest itself.

This realization came about during work with my therapist. Her training includes IFS, where mine includes Psychosynthesis. We spent a lot of time dialoguing with this one part, starting them on the path of seeing that I’m safe and not in danger anymore. That I don’t need to keep playing small with the things I want from life.

Suggested Reading:

John Rowan’s Subpersonalities: the people inside us.
Gabor Maté’s Scattered: How attention deficit disorder originates and what you can do about it.



References

Executive Function. (n.d.). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/executive-function

Rowan, J. (1989). Subpersonalities: the people inside us (Kindle). Routledge.

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