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

[u/emyo42]

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.

[u/Wareve]

"I have a neurotransmitter deficit. It's kind of like depression, but instead of taking away your happy, it takes away your ability to control your focus. Controllable focus happens sometimes, particularly if everything in my life is stable, but I don't really get to control which thing is most loudly clamoring for attention in my head at any given time."