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ADHD: An Ecosystem Model
Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of ADHD gathering. My name is Ying. I’m an ADHD coach and a meditation teacher, and today I’m going to talk about ADHD as an ecosystem. And this is an idea I’ve been noodling on since March of 2025.
And just preface, this is not a research paper, and this is by no means a summary of all ADHD folks’ experience. What I’m going to summarize of ADHD as an ecosystem largely comes from my own experiences as well as what I’ve observed by coaching hundreds of ADHD adults.
Why would I have this idea of ADHD as an ecosystem? I personally think that the traditional ADHD definition largely focuses on cognition as well as execution. If you look up the DSM five, ADHD diagnostic criteria you will see ADHD described as, for example, inattention, often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes, or often have difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or, does not follow through on instructions.
And on hyperactivity part, often on the go as if driven by a motor or
Impulsivity is often has trouble waiting the turn, often blurred out answers. These descriptions are very focused on cognition and execution as in how well do we do tasks or how well can we sustain our attention to do the task.
I think about human beings as ecosystems.
The interaction of different parts within ourselves and the interaction between us and our environment. That may come from my environmental science background that I oftentimes think in that ecosystem kind of way. There’s many different areas of study out there trying to understand humans.
introduction to the model
I’m proposing this model of understanding humans as an ecosystem of cognition, emotion, somatics, narrative and execution. And that exists in the system of our personal life and exists in a larger system of how we interact with other people, like relationships, community, work, society, cultural traditions, and it exists in a time and space.
It’s not just we cannot focus or we cannot get things done, but more so if I try to understand myself: what are some patterns of my cognition, emotion, somatics, narrative, and how do those elements impact my execution and how is the bigger environment I’m in impact my execution?
That’s fundamentally how I try to understand ADHD, because I do think human beings are complex and oftentimes the bigger systems we are in, the society and cultural expectation and the work, community and the time and space we’re in have huge impact on us.
Western psychology usually focuses on what’s within our control, the locus of control. At the same time, I think what’s within our control is not a fixed concept. It’s not a fixed boundary.
What I did a lot in my twenties is to change my larger environment, and that has really helped me to manage my ADHD.
start of model description
Here’s my attempt to summarize what I’ve observed of some patterns of ADHD folks in these elements viewing ADHD as ecosystems.
emotion
So first emotion. ADHD folks usually have very strong emotions, highs of highs and lows of lows.
Oftentimes when the strong emotions come, the intensity of it makes it relatively difficult to regulate our emotions. That is why I think emotional regulation is a really crucial skill that ADHD folks need to cultivate. whether it is through self-exploration or learning it through coaching or therapy
ADHD folks with strong emotion has been documented since the very first time ADHD was documented back in the 1700s. ADHD folks oftentimes have a sense of sensitivity with emotions. We can attune to people. And the empathy level we have with people are, very high. At the same time the flip side of the coin is the sensitivity may lead us to feel like rejection sensitivity, or really being impacted by the negative emotional signals.
Cognition
Cognition. ADHD folks are out of the box thinkers, creative problem solvers. It’s because when we think about a concept, we are associating concepts to the original concept in a way that most people don’t. So that leads us to think about solutions that other people are not able to.
And also we tend not to follow instructions, so that means we tend to find new ways to, solve problems or, find a new angle to engage with whatever is in front of us. There are psychologists out there labeled ADHD as an interest-based nervous system. That means when we have a high level of interest in something, we are able to sustain our attention. The cognition also have the other side of hyper-focusing. If we’re very interested in something, we get totally absorbed and time and space disappear.
The ability to associate a concept in a way that’s not expected, it’s not just for problem solving. It also makes us really creative. We are usually really witty because we have that way of associating.
And this association. I also noticed when I write a to-do list, I usually write a really long to-do list. I always joke about it’s feels like when I dug into the soil to try to grab one carrot and instead of grabbing one carrot, I got a bunch together. ’cause the roots of the carrots in my brain are all connected.
When we think about things we need to do, we tend to think in a web of things we need to do, and that sometimes do lead to overwhelm, and that does impact execution. But with the right support and understanding how to prioritize and clarify the first step, we are able to move forward with execution.
Somatics
And Somatics, a lot of ADHD folks have some sort of sensory sensitivity, whether it is sensitivity towards light or scent or tastes. Some ADHD folks have hypermobility. I think we generally have a more sensitive, body and how the profile of somatic sensitivity shows up for each individual, is very different. I do think a big piece of what helps me to manage my ADHD is by regulating myself through my body.
That’s, going to the gym, lifting weights two times a week, dancing once a week. Eating relatively healthy-ish, what counts as healthy is, different for different folks. I do think exercise movement and food. Those do help me to regulate myself, given that my body does have a sense of, sensitivity somatically.
And then is noticing how earlier we talked about emotion being intense for ADHD folks, a lot of times emotion also, tend to show up somatically. Even if we don’t have the exact word to describe the emotion. I usually notice my emotion first through somatic signals, as in if I have, tense neck and tense upper back, or if I’m having feelings of heat, around my face or chest, or if I feel my hands or feet are getting cold, when I feel those intense, somatic signals, I tend to withdraw and give myself some time and space to help myself process and understand like, okay, I’m noticing this signal in my body. First let me regulate my body, through movement or breathing or meditation. Then if I have the bandwidth, what might have been the cause of the emotion, and is there something that’s within my control that I can do to hopefully, change the environment or change myself? So, I can be informed by my emotion and move forward in a way that’s more, accommodating to myself
Narratives
narratives. This is a element I am very passionate about. Narratives in my mind is about the identities we have, the stories we tell ourselves, the analogies we grab onto, the mindsets we have. For example, a lot of ADHD folks struggle with rejection sensitivity dysphoria.
That usually stems from a lifelong, negative feedback that we have received from folks. So when there is some negative interpersonal feedback or signals, ADHD folks are more likely to tell ourselves the story of I am no good. The other person don’t like me. I’m being rejected in this social setting. I think practicing mindfulness has made me able to label okay, these are stories I’m telling myself. Yes, in the moment they might be very painful, it may come with strong emotions. And at the same time, it is a story, a framework, a outlook. So this is a huge part of how I coach is to help people to run experiments, trying out strategies, changing behaviors in small ways. Over time. Slowly, they’re telling themselves a different story.
And that story is based on actual data, their actual behaviors from these experiments they run. So, for example, now when I receive a negative interpersonal signal. I’m more likely to interpret it as, okay, maybe me and the other person don’t exactly understand each other.
Or maybe Neither of us at our best. Maybe it’s both of us needs more rest, we can revisit this another time. I’m less likely to interpret it through the stories of, oh, I’m no good. nobody likes me. I’m being rejected.
This is something I’m always pulled towards working on to examine the stories I’m telling myself and see if there’s other stories I can tell myself.
Another example a lot of ADHD folks struggle with routine and me too.
I used to think routines are so boring or routines are so restrictive. Why would anybody want routines? I don’t wanna be one of those boring adults. Again, those are stories and outlooks and frameworks I chose to tell myself. Then I was thinking about, okay, how can I challenge this? What other stories can I tell myself?
I started to explore how routines make my life easier so it could free up energy for me to do more creative things or things I would rather be doing. And I start to explore how routines is essentially a way for me to show up for myself day after day. And I combine that with one of my strength is love.
I really do want to cultivate a secure attachment with myself. Cultivating secure attachment does require showing up for the person consistently. So I have now reframed the routine as a way that I am actively cultivating secure attachment with myself because I want to love myself. And I also explore how even if the structure of the routine largely stay the same, how might I add novelty and variation in there so I can still feel joy and pleasure within routines. So I explore different ways to tell myself stories.
So that’s a huge one. Think about what kind of stories you’re telling yourself. What are your go-to reasons that you’re explaining why something is happening. And, when I was, studying with Jack Kornfield, in my mindfulness meditation teacher training program,
he talked about, we all have these, top played tracks in our head, the usual stories we tell ourselves. There’s a sense of common humanity in it too. A lot of us struggle with stories like, I’m not good enough. People don’t love me. And at the same time, the first step is just start noticing what kind of stories you tell yourselves and experiment with what more compassionate and still real stories you can tell yourself.
Execution
When we talk about execution, how ADHD folks do things what I’ve noticed, that a lot of times ADHD folks do have challenges with starting something and finishing something. Usually once we get started, we stay in motion. The last bit of wrapping up, oftentimes it might come from working on one project for too long and the novelty has worn off and the interesting bits has already been extracted for our brain. So we are like, oh, what’s the point of wrapping it up? For me personally, I like to have a few projects I’m working on, so I’m constantly rotating through a few projects.
So if I work on something. I hit a point of the novelty or interest is waning. I rotate to the second one. If I worked on the second project long enough. Because out of sight outta mind, when I rotate back to Project One, I literally feel like it’s a new project and I can look at it with fresh eyes. I find a new sense of interest in it. So I use rotating through my projects as a way to sustain my execution.
And this is also where coaching does help, oftentimes I’m helping my clients to clarify exactly what does done look like for this project? What exactly is the first step? How do you prioritize, what’s the process? Helping them to do some level of project scaffolding. So over time, they can do that scaffolding for themselves.
System
The last element is system, and that’s a really big term, for me, it’s very all encompassing. It could mean personal life system i’ve built as in routines, schedules. It could mean relationship systems, relationship, community, as well as work systems.
Like thinking about neurodivergent, folks need to exist in workforce that largely have neurotypical expectation. That’s a system that we have to face. Think about cultural expectations, traditions.
Think about the society we are in. What kind of economic system as well as time, what kind of time we’re in? And just to talk through a few of them briefly, I personally have, built relationship checking systems of monthly phone calls with a few friends that we dive deep into a topic.
That’s how I sustain my friendships. I’m terrible at small talks and I’m really not good at sustaining friendships if there is no overlap of special interest. But if there is a overlap of special interest, then I have a lot of motivation to sustain those friendships.
Another hypothesis I have is time doesn’t feel linear for neurodivergent folks. So for me, when I don’t talk to my friends for a month, it doesn’t feel like a month has passed. I evaluate the friendship quality by how real we are, how authentic we can be, and the depth of conversation we can have.
None of those really change by time passing. So I don’t feel like my friendship decays with time gaps, like the same way neurotypical folks want to sustain friendships. Like they want to talk all the time. So for me, relationship systems are monthly friendship calls with a couple friends.
I put them on our calendar and we can reschedule with each other.
I have some built in date templates with my partner, like with our shared interest of nature, wine tasting, working out, history. So we can easily think about date activities we do. And also a big part of it is challenging traditional expectation, and not by default follow what society tells us what a quote unquote successful relationship or a good friendship should look like. Challenging a lot of those shoulds, is very liberating for me and has helped me cultivate a system that actually works for my ADHD brain.
Another system that we encounter is work system. For example, my own conditioning around the work system is that I’ve only worked for very small startups, and so far all my supervisors I’ve encountered are probably neurodivergent. So they have given me a lot of autonomy and I’m also somebody who doesn’t need a whole lot of management.
I work the best with folks who allows me to ask direct questions and help me to arrive at clarity. If I just bring a question of here are the things I’m working on, here’s the priority I’m thinking about. Can you let me know if that aligns with what you’re thinking? Again, I understand that is a luck and privilege I have experienced.
And at the same time, thinking about how ADHD folks are interacting with the larger work system is crucial because most of the expectations and systems out there are set up for neurotypical folks
And not to mention that a lot of managers get promoted, to managers because they’re good individual contributors, but they may or may not have received enough training on how to manage people, how to communicate, how to help their direct report to prioritize and helping with the time estimation.
summary and commentary
I care about this model because a lot of ADHD advice or ADHD coaching out there are about tips and tools and it’s less looking at ADHD folks as the whole person, which contains all the different dimensions I just mentioned.
And it’s also sometimes not naming explicitly the systems we function within. And personally, I’m more of the type that I will change the outer environment if I can so that I can find systems that work well with my ADHD brain instead of taking on neurotypical expectation and forcing myself into the neurotypical systems.
And that’s a huge part of my coaching, is trying to help my clients to build systems that work with their brain and not against their brain. Tips and tools can only get you so far.
Tips and tools can help you to manage what’s on your plate. But if we’re not looking at the system level issues, then it could always feel like a uphill battle. For example, I have all the emotional regulation strategies, but I know fundamentally I work better with other neurodivergent folks.
So say if I have to work in a neurotypical work setting, yes, I can use all my tools and strategies about emotional regulation to make that experience in that environment better. And at the same time, for me, cultivating a work environment that allow me to ask questions that allow me to be creative, allow me to grow fast, allow me to have direct communication is probably way better than just managing my emotions in a neurotypical work setting.
other framework exists
So obviously my ecosystem view of ADHD is not the only framework that explains ADHD. There’s many frameworks out there. and if you would like to understand ADHD from more scientific frameworks, there are many great frameworks out there like Russell Barkley’s executive inhibition model, that understands ADHD more from the executive function approach. And there are understanding of ADHD more from the dopamine and reward system approach. And that’ll link to great resources.
summary how to work with this
Why fundamentally I take a multidimensional approach to help my clients because I see all the different patterns of them as a human being. I don’t just want to help them to improve their executive function and build systems around their deficits.
We work on that. And we work on many other things. Like what’s the story you’re telling yourself? What are some of your strengths? What truly matters to you, and how can we use those to help yourself to move forward? What’s your routine system look like? Can we start to reflect on you and the environment around you is it a good fit? And in what ways might you impact the environment around you a little bit so you don’t have to mask all the time?
This is the first iteration of this framework, and I’m sure I will come back to this idea sometime later. I’m available for one-on-one coaching and if you want support, book a free discovery call and I will talk to you next time.
Resources:
- Booking a free coaching discovery call with Ying, an award winning ADHD coach & meditation teacher featured on Self Magazine
- Download a free ADHD emotional regulation menu
- Check out more podcast episodes
- Check out this podcast episode’s transcript