The Science Behind Executive Function and ADHD: Why Coaching Makes a Difference
Executive function refers to a set of cognitive processes that enable individuals to plan, organize, prioritize, and follow through with tasks. In people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), these processes often operate less efficiently, making daily responsibilities more challenging. Understanding how executive function interacts with ADHD helps explain why coaching can be so effective in supporting consistent performance and improving quality of life.
How Executive Function Coaching Helps Adults With ADHD Overcome Daily Challenges
Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often experience challenges with organization, time management, task initiation, and maintaining focus. These difficulties are rooted in executive function deficits, which affect the brain’s ability to plan, prioritize, and follow through on daily responsibilities. Executive function coaching has emerged as a practical solution to help individuals manage these challenges and improve daily functioning.
The Relationship Between ADHD and Sleep Dysregulation: Why Rest Doesn’t Feel Restful
Adults with ADHD often experience significant difficulties with sleep quality, sleep timing, and feeling rested after sleep. This experience is commonly described as sleep dysregulation. It is not simply a matter of poor sleep habits, but rather reflects differences in brain arousal systems, circadian rhythm regulation, and executive functioning. Understanding this relationship is essential for explaining why rest may not feel restorative in ADHD.
Why ADHD Brains Struggle With Switching Tasks: Understanding Cognitive Transition Delay
Adults with ADHD often find it difficult to shift from one task to another, even when both tasks are clearly understood and important. This experience is commonly described as cognitive transition delay. It is not related to laziness or lack of willingness, but rather differences in how the brain manages attention shifting, executive control, and cognitive flexibility. Understanding this pattern is essential for explaining why task switching can feel mentally effortful and disorienting in ADHD.
The Hidden Cost of Untreated Executive Dysfunction in Adults With ADHD
Executive dysfunction is one of the core challenges of ADHD, affecting an individual’s ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and complete everyday tasks. When left unaddressed, these difficulties often accumulate over time, creating a hidden but significant impact on multiple areas of life. Understanding these long-term effects is important for recognizing why structured support, including ADHD coaching and behavioral strategies, can make a meaningful difference.
Why ADHD Makes Follow-Through So Difficult: Understanding the Gap Between Intention and Action
Adults with ADHD often know exactly what they need to do, yet still struggle to complete tasks consistently. This experience is commonly described as a gap between intention and action. It is not related to laziness or lack of effort, but rather differences in executive functioning, motivation regulation, and cognitive control systems in the brain. Understanding this gap is essential for explaining why follow-through can feel so difficult in daily life.
Global Mental Health Treatment Gaps in 2025 and What the Data Reveals
By Priti M. Kothari, MD
Mental health conditions affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, yet most of those individuals do not receive adequate treatment or support. That staggering figure comes from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2025 reports, including World Mental Health Today and the Mental Health Atlas 2024, which together provide the most comprehensive global picture of mental health needs, service coverage, and gaps in care.
How ADHD Affects Decision-Making: Why Even Simple Choices Feel Overwhelming
Decision-making is one of the most cognitively demanding daily functions, and in ADHD it can become significantly more complex and effortful. Individuals with ADHD often experience difficulty making even simple choices, not due to indecisiveness or lack of understanding, but because of differences in executive functioning, emotional regulation, and cognitive processing. Understanding the science behind ADHD and decision-making is essential for explaining why everyday choices can feel overwhelming and mentally draining.
The Science Behind ADHD and Task Paralysis: Why You Can’t Start Even When You Want To
Task paralysis is one of the most commonly experienced yet least understood challenges in ADHD. It describes a state in which an individual knows exactly what needs to be done but is unable to initiate action. This is not a reflection of laziness or lack of effort, but rather a neurological difficulty rooted in executive dysfunction. Understanding the science behind task paralysis is essential for explaining why everyday tasks can feel mentally “stuck” and how structured interventions, including ADHD coaching, can help restore functional flow.
Executive Function Breakdown in ADHD: Why Tasks Feel Overwhelming and How Coaching Helps Rebuild Structure
Executive function challenges are a core feature of ADHD and significantly affect how individuals plan, organize, prioritize, and complete daily tasks. These difficulties are not related to intelligence or effort but rather to differences in how the brain manages cognitive control systems. Understanding executive dysfunction is essential for explaining why everyday tasks can feel overwhelming and how structured coaching interventions can help rebuild consistency and follow-through.
What Does an ADHD Coach Actually Do? Understanding the Role in Executive Function Support
ADHD coaching is a structured, goal-oriented support approach designed to help individuals manage challenges related to executive functioning. These challenges may include difficulty with time management, organization, task initiation, emotional regulation, and sustaining attention. An ADHD coach focuses on building practical systems and strategies that help individuals function more effectively in daily life.
Understanding Pediatric OCD and Its Impact on Daily Functioning in Children
By Priti M. Kothari, MD
Obsessive‑Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition that affects both adults and children, yet it is often underrecognized in pediatric populations. In the United States, OCD is estimated to affect up to 1–2% of children and adolescents, making it one of the less common but still significant pediatric mental health concerns. While this prevalence might seem lower than that of disorders like ADHD or anxiety, the impact of OCD on daily functioning can be profound, especially when symptoms are overlooked or untreated.
Pediatric OCD is characterized by obsessions, which are intrusive and unwanted thoughts or urges, and compulsions, which are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a child feels driven to perform in response to obsessions. These symptoms are not simply quirks or preferences; they are connected to anxiety and distress, and they can consume a child’s time, energy, and attention.
Heavy Infant Screen Time Linked To Slower Decision-Making, Higher Anxiety In Teenagers, Study Finds
(12/30, Gu, Subscription Publication) reports that a study by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the National University of Singapore “found that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two showed brain development changes linked to slower decision-making and higher anxiety in adolescence, adding to concerns about early digital exposure.” The study, published in eBioMedicine, “tracked 168 children for more than a decade, and conducted brain scans on them at three time points.”
Exploring the Theoretical Potential of Benzphetamine in the Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Priti M. Kothari Daniel P. Singer
Cite this article as: Kothari P M, Singer D P (December 29, 2025) Exploring the Theoretical Potential of Benzphetamine in the Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Cureus 17(12): e100363. doi:10.7759/cureus.100363
Benzphetamine HCl (Didrex) is a Schedule III amphetamine indicated for the treatment of obesity. Amphetamine and methylphenidate are CNS stimulants regarded as the most effective treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Currently, both classes comprise the nationwide shortage of stimulants used to treat ADHD. Benzphetamine is a prodrug yielding dextroamphetamine (Zenzedi) and dextromethamphetamine (formerly Desoxyn). Both metabolites hold FDA approval to treat ADHD, suggesting their potential to aid in the shortage. Nonetheless, the lack of data on the compound limits its hypothetical applicability, thus prompting a theoretical review. Prior studies found dextroamphetamine to be more potent than benzphetamine and suggested the behavior of the compounds to differ; despite this, the absence of data in ADHD subjects and the limited data on obese subjects significantly limited our investigation. While benzphetamine appears mechanistically promising, the paucity of literature prevented us from drawing a theoretical claim.
Antidepressant Fluoxetine Found To Rewire the Brain’s Energy System, Boosting Plasticity
Fluoxetine may aid depression by reshaping brain energy use and boosting plasticity.
For decades, antidepressants such as fluoxetine – widely known under the brand name ProzacTM – have been prescribed to millions of people worldwide. These medications are thought to work mainly by increasing the availability of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood. However, the timeline of recovery – often requiring weeks before any improvement occurs – has long puzzled scientists.
Dr. Priti M. Kothari Day
At the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, Commissioner Sachs presented a proclamation declaring Nov. 4, 2025, as Dr. Priti M. Kothari Day. Dr. Priti M. Kothari Day has served the residents of Palm Beach County with distinction as a board-certified psychiatrist since 2005, delivering trusted, compassionate, and personalized mental health care to children, adolescents, and adults throughout the region. Her presence in the community through her leadership, advocacy, and volunteerism across Palm Beach County, as well as her clinical work, including providing grief support and psychiatric services to the Parkland shooting community, consistently demonstrates her commitment to the well-being of individuals and families.
988 Suicide And Crisis Lifeline Has Been Contacted More Than 16M Times Since Launch, Research Letter Says
HealthDay (6/11, Gotkine) reports a research letter published in JAMA Network Open says “opportunities remain to increase use of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.” The researchers calculated that “between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, 988 was contacted 16,333,707 times nationally, with 11.0 percent of contacts rerouted to the Veterans Crisis Line.” Over the 30-month period, “the national lifetime 988 contact incidence rate was 48.9 per 1,000 population,” and the “estimated lifetime 988 use prevalence was 2.4 percent. The corresponding past-year contact incidence rate and past-year prevalence was 23.7 per 1,000 population and 1.6 percent.” They concluded, “The past-year 988 contact rate of 23.7 per 1,000 is less than half that of the rate of adult emergency department visits that include a mental health diagnosis (53.0 per 1,000 population), [suggesting] that although 988 has been contacted more than 16 million times since its launch, there remains opportunity to increase 988 use.”
Health Disparities in Perinatal Mental Health Resource Document
APA's Health Disparities in Perinatal Mental Health Resource Document - developed by the APA's Health Disparities in Perinatal Mental Health Work Group - is an evolving resource for members who want to learn more about health disparities in women's perinatal mental health.
APA Headlines: CDC Report Finds Small Increase In Autism Rates In US Children
CDC Report Finds Small Increase In Autism Rates In US Children
Engaging With Patients & the Community Outside the Exam Room
Robust data exists regarding the importance of patient connection and engagement in the hospital and clinic setting. In medical school and residency, we are often instructed on the importance of patient communication in enhancing patient satisfaction scores, quality metrics, and professional satisfaction. However, a less examined aspect is the value of patient and community engagement outside traditional healthcare settings.
Adults Aged 18 To 49 Years Who Use Cannabis For Medical Reasons Have Higher CUD Rates Compared With Adults Who Only Use Cannabis Recreationally, Research Finds
Healio (1/28, Mahoney) reports, “Adults aged 18 to 49 years who used cannabis for medical reasons had higher rates of cannabis use disorder [CUD] compared with adults who only used cannabis recreationally, according to a research letter.” The investigators said, “Clinicians should consider addiction risk before recommending medical cannabis and, if they do, should monitor for CUD emergence.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.
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Why Anxiety Causes Heart Palpitations and Physical Symptoms
Anxiety is a part of your body’s stress response and can cause heart palpitations in some people. Anxiety can be a fleeting response to stressful situations or can persist long term. Persistent anxiety can take a toll on you physically.
Anxiety attacks: Symptoms and calming techniques
Anxiety attacks can seem overwhelming when you’re in the middle of one, but with the right coping tools you can come out the other side. A racing heart, dizziness and being out of breath are common experiences for people who are having an anxiety attack, according to Harvard Health
Current recommendations address perinatal depression screening, diagnosis, treatment
Current perinatal depression recommendations aim to help with early screening, diagnosis and treatment and to prevent maternal mortality. Perinatal mental health conditions are the leading cause of overall and preventable maternal mortality and include a wide array of mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and substance use disorders
More Americans will only have to pay $35 a month for insulin in 2024
Sanofi has officially joined Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in lowering the cost of insulin to $35 a month for many patients. The three drugmakers are also drastically lowering the list prices for their insulin products.
More Than 1 in 4 U.S. Adults Plans to Make Mental Health a Priority in 2024
Over 75% of U.S. adults plan to start 2024 with a New Year’s resolution—including 28% who are resolving to work on improving their mental health, according to APA’s latest Healthy Minds monthly poll. The poll was conducted online from December 2 to 4 among 2,202 adults.
27th Annual Ann Storck Center’s Celebrity Chef’s
Date: March 31, 2023 @ 6:00PM — 10:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Place: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino – Terrace Ballroom: 1 Seminole Way Hollywood, FL 33314
For over 26 years the annual Celebrity Chefs has garnered a reputation as one of South Florida’s most sought after fundraising events, thanks in part to the support of people like you. The community’s support helps our individuals with developmental disabilities discover their abilities and build independence.
