Anecdotally, stress and inhibitions are major chains on executive function for me. Massage therapy to reduce physical tension felt literally liberating; like I could do a bunch of things I could not do previously; additionally, finding an herbal supplement that eased stress/despair and mildly cut down on intense inhibitions while aiding some of my particular cognitive weak points (ADHD-related focus and memory issues most likely; those are the ones I’ve had any luck with from prescribed medicine also) allowed my “ego” to take charge of myself in a way it normally doesn’t.
I don’t get continuous benefit from this sort of thing, so I kind of take it off and on, and the distinction is interesting—higher executive function feels like a stronger sense of having a part of myself in charge, like there’s greater focus on implementing my agency, more of a veto power to override random objections from other aspects of my experience, and the worst pains of awareness are muted into something bearable.
… Going back to lower executive function feels like the Beloved Benevolent Dictator of the Self wandered back off to go work in the library like they normally do, and all the aspects of myself are back to being some kind of anarchic consensus democracy of inclinations with over-aggressive self-policing.
(Additional context for whether this might have any helpful pointers in your situation: I have ASD myself, and have struggled to get either actual antidepression, anti-anxiety or executive function improvements from a number of prescription medicines and therapeutic interventions in the past.)
Interesting comment, thanks! For anxiety, theanine and a good therapist have helped some, but I need to investigate more what would work for stress and inhibitions
Anecdotally, stress and inhibitions are major chains on executive function for me. Massage therapy to reduce physical tension felt literally liberating; like I could do a bunch of things I could not do previously; additionally, finding an herbal supplement that eased stress/despair and mildly cut down on intense inhibitions while aiding some of my particular cognitive weak points (ADHD-related focus and memory issues most likely; those are the ones I’ve had any luck with from prescribed medicine also) allowed my “ego” to take charge of myself in a way it normally doesn’t.
I don’t get continuous benefit from this sort of thing, so I kind of take it off and on, and the distinction is interesting—higher executive function feels like a stronger sense of having a part of myself in charge, like there’s greater focus on implementing my agency, more of a veto power to override random objections from other aspects of my experience, and the worst pains of awareness are muted into something bearable.
… Going back to lower executive function feels like the Beloved Benevolent Dictator of the Self wandered back off to go work in the library like they normally do, and all the aspects of myself are back to being some kind of anarchic consensus democracy of inclinations with over-aggressive self-policing.
(Additional context for whether this might have any helpful pointers in your situation: I have ASD myself, and have struggled to get either actual antidepression, anti-anxiety or executive function improvements from a number of prescription medicines and therapeutic interventions in the past.)
Interesting comment, thanks! For anxiety, theanine and a good therapist have helped some, but I need to investigate more what would work for stress and inhibitions
A nice cup of tea and a sit down? :)
See also.
I mean, yeah, works somewhat, but I’m really starting to think I have an actual anxiety disorder, given how a cuppa is pretty much never enough