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I wasn't aware "ego depletion" was studied in such a direct and simplistic/naive manner.

People with ADHD can attest "executive functioning" can be depleted or even borrowed from/overexhausted - like a resource. E.g. an extended period of hyperfixation may lead to days or even weeks of near complete inability of executive control, or "lethargy"/"depression". There certainly is some kind of budget/debt and some tasks are more taxing than others.

I assumed it's some deficit in homeostatic balancing stemming from a partially deficient brain preventing "burnig out".

'Ego depletion' was a fitting term, but now I cringe at myself for using that in presence of people knowing psychology/psychiatry, if it's something of a more defined thing.

Maybe the situation in ADHD is different as reward/expectation of reward/"dopamine" is very much different than "ego" in neuro typical folks. Guess with NTs it could be more related to "exhaustion", priorizing of activities over rest/sleep.

Is there a better hypothesis/theory related?




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