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It

Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time. An Executive Function Analysis


By Jane Gilgun

ow wonderful and freeing to be spontaneous and just do it!! Take that tumble in the sack. That will feel so good. Who cares if youre married? Take a couple of those valium you spotted in a friends medicine cabinet. Hell never miss them and you will feel so relaxed. Give in to that temptation to put someone else down. How good it feels. Who thinks about consequences? Who cares? Have you ever done something that seemed like a good idea at the time and then you had regrets afterward? I have. Ive also done lots of interviews with people who told me stories of how wonderful they felt doing what seemed to be the fulfillment of their dreams. Then comes the crash. They are in a mess when the clouds of fun and even ecstasy blow away and the sun shines brightly on their deeds. I think of Olivia, 11 years old, looking at a pen that seemed to sparkle and say I am yours. Olivia took it and walked out of the store without paying. Later, she was ashamed. Too afraid to bring the pen back, she threw it away. How about Jason? He tasted wine at communion at church. It tasted wonderful. He returned to the sacristy during coffee hour. The first sips filled him with warmth and light. He kept sipping. By the time he had sipped half a bottle, he had passed out and fell to the floor. A member of the altar guild found him, his mouth full of vomit. She cleared his mouth and may have saved his life. Church members watched as the paramedics carried him to the ambulance. Mattias daydreamed about sexual encounters with beautiful women. He practically wrote plays about them he was so detailed in his daydreams. She would look deep into her eyes and tell him she loved him. When he entered her, the two of them

would fly to the moon theyd have such a high. Walking home after a night at the bar, he saw her pulling into her garage. He waited for her and called her name. She ran from him. Enraged and confused, he grabbed her and pushed her against the garage, pulled her clothes off, and penetrated. She bit him. Thats not how it was supposed to be. He punched her and ran. She picked him out in a lineup. DNA evidence clinched it. Mattias is in prison, where I met him and interviewed him. These are just a few examples of the countless ways people get themselves in trouble. Had each of them done a little bit of thinking, they might have made other choices. Heres a list of ways of deciding whether something that seems like a good idea is a good idea. 1. Do an executive function (EF) analysis. Ill explain that later. 2. Wait and do another EF analysis. 3. Do an EF analysis under many different emotional conditions over a weeks time. 4. Talk to a trusted person three times in a weeks time about the various meanings and consequences that any action you are considering may have. 5. Wait another week or more. 6. Do an EF analysis with any persons your actions might affect. Make a decision that all persons affected agree to. 7. Continue this process until you feel grounded and solid about your course of action. An Executive Function Analysis An EF analysis is an examination of the many possible consequences of actions youd like to take. It involves thinking through who will benefit and who will be hurt by actions. The principles to follow are 1. Write down or talk out loud to someone else in detail about the action you would like to take. Whatever you have imagined, write down or tell another person. Best of all do both. Expound upon how good it feels and how much you deserve these wonderful feelings. Talk about the awful things that have happened to you in your life and how much you want to feel good. Talk about how much other people will benefit. Go into great detail about that. Go on and on. Exhaust yourself explaining what this action means to you. 2. List the benefits to you of this course of action. Dont forget to include how good you will feel and how much other people want you to do the action.

3. List the benefits to others of your course of action. 4. List the possible downsides to you of this course of action. 5. List the possible downsides to others of this course of action. 6. Ask each person who would be affected by your planned course of action to list and talk about the benefits and downsides of the actions you would like to take. 7. Talk to each person who would be affected by your action about the benefits and downsides that they anticipate. Talk to each person about the benefits and downsides that you anticipate for them and for you. It would be great to do this three times in three weeks, more or less depending upon the outcome of each conversation. 8. Whether you agree or disagree, talk to at least two fair-minded persons who will not be affected by your actions. Talk about the benefits and downsides that you see for yourself and for others. Listen carefully to what they have to say. Talk about the benefits and downsides that persons who will be affected have pointed out. Listen carefully to what this outsider has to say. Do this until you have examined all the consequences you can think of and have come to some peace about the possible consequences. 9. Ask the persons who will be affected by your action to go with you to talk to a fair- minded person who will not be affected by your action and preferably does not know anyone affected. Then, take all the time needed to consider everyones views on the upsides and downsides of your course of action. Do this until everyone concerned feels listened to, heard, and respected. 10. Make a decision about your action. Be sure that everyone involved is in agreement that you course of action benefits yourself and others and brings no harm to others. Some people may not like your decision, such as changing jobs or moving house, but the issue is who is harmed or hurt in the short and long-term. Discussion An EF analysis sure cuts into fun and spontaneity. It takes some judgment to know when spontaneity results in lasting fun or not. Sometimes it is a good idea to do an EF analysis. Even doing a little bit of the full analysis is better for you and others than not doing it at all. The point of an EF analysis is to do no harm and possibly to promote the well-being of others and yourself. EF analyses are important to do if you are to live with yourself and others in some kind of peace and avoid hurtful consequences to others and to yourself. EF analyses may also help you avoid public shame.

About the Author Jane F. Gilgun, PhD, LICSW, is a writer and professor. See Janes other articles, books, and childrens stories on scribd, Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and other internet book sellers. References Anderson, Peter (2002). Assessment and development of executive function (EF) during childhood. Child Neuropsychology, 8(2), 71-82 Courvoisie, Helen, Stephen R. Hooper, Camille Fine, Lester Kwock, & Mauricio Castillo. (2004). Neurometabolic functioning and neuropsychological correlates in children With ADHD-H: Preliminary findings. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 15, 63-69. Davies, Douglas (2004). Child Development: A practitioners guide (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford. Gilgun, Jane F. (2012). Child sexual abuse: From harsh realities to hope (2nd ed.). http://www.amazon.com/Child-Sexual-Abuse-Realities- ebook/dp/B0022NGUDO/ref=sr_1_1?s Gilgun, Jane F. (2010). The NEATS: A child & family assessment (2nd ed.). http://www.amazon.com/NEATS-Child-Family- Assessment/dp/1450586104/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368027196&sr=1- 2&keywords=gilgun+NEATS%3A+a+child+and+family+assessment Lieberman, Alicia F. (2004). Traumatic stress and quality of attachment: Reality and internalization in disorders of infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 25(4), 336-351. Mash, Eric J., & David A. Wolf (2007). Abnormal child psychology (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Moore, Constance M, Joseph Biederman, Janet Wozniak, Eric Mick, Megan Aleardi, Megan Wardrop, Meghan Dougherty, Terri Harpold, Paul Hammerness, Edin Randall, Perry F. Renshaw (2006). Differences in brain chemistry in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with and without comorbid bipolar disorder: A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 316318. Van der Kolk, Bessel A. (2005). Developmental Trauma Disorder: A new, rational diagnosis for children with complex trauma histories. Psychiatric Annals 35(5), 390-398. Wozniak J., Biederman J., & Richards J.A. (2001). Diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas in the management of pediatric-onset bipolar disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 62,1015.

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