“Beautiful Disaster” : intrapersonal communication, emotional regulation, and the influence of culture in adults diagnosed with ADHD

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a mental disorder grounded in the inability to regulate emotions and emotional responses and can “lead to functional impairment” (Niina et al., 2022, p. 822). Specifically, ADHD is a disorder of inhibition (Barkley, 2013). Most research focuses on cause and effect and the clinical aspects of management in affected children, overlooking the fact that approximately 85% will carry the affliction into adulthood. Fundamental in western culture is an ability to effectively engage in intrapersonal communication, to self-regulate and pause between stimulus and response, and to plan for future goals. In other words, people living with ADHD are impaired in predicting what will happen next based on what has happened in the past. Few studies view ADHD through the lens of communication, and even fewer look at the issue as an intrapersonal communication challenge. This thesis provides a window into the lived experience of adults with ADHD by utilizing an Arts Based Research filmic, artistic-interpretive approach, (which assumes that social reality is constructed through experience and language), and narrative inquiry. Additionally, my theoretical perspective is informed by social behaviouralist George Mead (2015) and the psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1987) in that both view human cognition as inherently social. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 43. My own battle with emotional regulation, and cognition were catalysts to the conceptualization of this study. The study employed an Arts Based Research film editing reduction process that allowed the direction of the film to develop naturally, and phenomenological interviews reveal the personal experiences of adults with ADHD in relation to their own intrapersonal communication. Additionally, it was a process of self-discovery, revealing how it feels living with the disorder in a culture in which ADHD is heavily stigmatized. However, this process is inherently subjective, and therefore this study looks to find shared experience surrounding culture, authenticity, emotional regulation and self talk in the participants, but is limited to these findings, and is not intended to generalize the data but “to provide a rich, contextualized understanding” (Paolit & Beck, 2010, p. 1452) of the lived experience of ADHD Adults. Keywords: ADHD, intrapersonal communication, authenticity, reflexivity, culture, emotional regulation, stigma