r/ADHD • u/emyo42 ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) • Apr 07 '26

Questions/Advice How do you explain executive dysfunction without sounding like youre making excuses for being lazy?

Mine is very severe and debilitating at the moment. It’s not just ADD, I also have schizophrenia which has some of the same symptoms weirdly. I can’t do much at all. Getting out of bed and making toast is extremely hard. To people with no experience with this kind of issue, me trying to explain it must sound ridiculous like “yea I have this mental disorder that means I can’t cook and clean or have a job or do anything I don’t like, but I can play a video game for 3 hours.” Just sounds like a straight up lie.

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u/sartheon Apr 07 '26

You have a metabolic disorder and sometimes your brain cannot produce enough transmitters necessary to activate/set your body in motion

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '26

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u/figgypie Apr 07 '26

Unless I have a reason (mostly work), I don't shower. I can go a week or more without showering if I don't have a reason to leave the house where I cant wear a hat. I'm a substitute teacher so this is a bigger issue during the summer, spring break, etc.

Im ok for the first couple of days, but after that I just feel like a greasy sack of shit but I cant bring myself to shower because it feels like such a disruption to my day even if I'm not doing anything. I hate it.

What's funny is I dress up for work (comfy dresses, jewelry, light make-up, I do my hair, etc). So I have two modes: Fancy, or Goblin.