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ADHD Chatter Podcast

The Breakthrough Science That Proves Link Between ADHD and Hypermobility | Dr. Jessica Eccles PhD

Dr Jessica Eccles trained in medicine at University of Cambridge and University of Oxford and undertook combined clinical academic training in Psychiatry.

Dr. Jessica EcclesguestAlex Partridgehost

Mar 11, 20251h 5mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Why ADHD Is an Embodied, Whole-Body Condition
After a dedication and trailer, Alex asks what viewers will learn. Dr. Eccles says ADHD is not only a brain condition but an embodied experience, pointing to the "ADHD walk" seen on social media.
- •The episode is dedicated to anyone who can bend their thumb back to their arm
- •Eccles says ADHD is an entire-body condition, not just a neurotype
- •Social media claims you can't tell someone has ADHD, yet it is full of the "ADHD walk"
- •She credits progress in busting myths about women and non-stereotypical presentations
What Hypermobility Is: Connective Tissue, Strengths and Health Challenges
Eccles defines hypermobility as joints with an unusual range of motion, but calls the term a red herring because the real difference is stretchier connective tissue. She describes strengths such as dance and gymnastics, and challenges such as injury, gut problems, allergies and dysautonomia.
- •Connective tissue is likened to cling film, and collagen differences are behind many physical and mental health effects
- •Strengths include piano, guitar, gymnastics and ballet, with Simone Biles given as an example
- •Challenges include weaker core stability, dislocations, gastro issues, asthma and allergies
- •Postural tachycardia syndrome can look like anxiety and lead to anxiety diagnoses
- •Eccles discovered her own hypermobility at medical school
How to Test for Hypermobility and Spot Soft Signs
Eccles walks through the five-question self-report screen and what a doctor or physio would examine. She also lists soft signs and explains why men and women may present differently, citing hormonal influences on connective tissue.
- •Five questions cover hands flat on the floor, thumb to wrist, party tricks, dislocations and being double-jointed
- •Scoring two or more suggests strong possibility of hypermobility, but scoring lower doesn't rule it out
- •Soft signs include flat feet on standing, easy bruising, thin papery scars, ankle sprains and hernias
- •Men may not pass the finger tests but often have long, thin fingers
- •Progesterone loosens connective tissue and symptoms can fluctuate with the menstrual cycle
14:02 – 17:55
Does Everyone with ADHD Have Hypermobility?
Alex asks whether all people with ADHD are hypermobile. Eccles explains that definitions vary, shares her study finding neurodivergent people were four times more likely to be hypermobile, and clarifies how hypermobility relates to EDS.
- •Hypermobility is defined inconsistently across research
- •Neurodivergent participants were four times more likely to be hypermobile, with about 50% of men and nearly 80% of women scoring four or more
- •Hypermobility mathematically explained the link between neurodivergence and dizziness and pain
- •All people with EDS have hypermobility but not all hypermobile people have EDS
- •In her NHS clinic she very rarely sees anyone without some symptomatic hypermobility
The Scientific Link: Genetics, Sensory System, Proprioception and Emotion
Eccles explains why neurodivergence and hypermobility go together: inheritance, the sensory system, and proprioception. She presents her research linking uncertainty about body position to emotion regulation problems, especially in hypermobile people.
- •Both conditions run in families and may be inherited together
- •Collagen in skin and ear suggests a link to sensory regulation
- •Proprioception difficulties relate to the ADHD walk, dyspraxia and the paradox of ballet dancers who bump into doors
- •Neurodivergent traits predict emotion problems via uncertainty about position in space, and the effect is twice as strong in hypermobile people
- •Prediction errors and bodily uncertainty can lead to anxiety, and the ADAPT interoceptive training offers reassurance and education
The Most Hypermobile People and Hypermobility Across Age
Eccles describes meeting circus and aerial performers, stressing that hypermobility is stretchiness rather than bendiness. She then discusses whether it changes with age, using her mother's W-sitting at nearly 76 as an example.
- •Eccles gave talks to circus performers and aerial artists
- •You don't need party tricks to be hypermobile, and people often discount themselves by comparing to more flexible people
- •Joints do stiffen with age, but she doesn't think hypermobility necessarily declines
- •Lower joint scores don't mean fewer problems
Hypermobility Research Then and Now: Brain Imaging and Self-Regulation
Alex asks what was known ten years ago. Eccles recounts how research has evolved from early anxiety-focused work to links with ADHD and autism, including a brain imaging study resembling ADHD findings and an older study linking hypermobility to chocolate, tobacco and alcohol use.
- •Ten years ago knowledge covered physical health problems, a few case studies and two studies on ADHD in children
- •Knowledge solidified in the late 2010s and early 2020s
- •Her anxiety imaging study found amygdala overactivity and underactive frontal cortex, resembling classic ADHD imaging
- •An older paper linked hypermobility to chocolate, tobacco and alcohol use, which she now wonders may reflect ADHD self-regulation
- •DSM-5 in 2014 first allowed diagnosing both autism and ADHD
Chronic Pain, Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Long COVID
Prompted by Alex's question about chronic pain in women with ADHD, Eccles describes pain and fatigue in her patients and her studies of fibromyalgia, ME/CFS and Long COVID. Most patients with these conditions met criteria for symptomatic hypermobility, and hypermobility predicted worse outcomes.
- •Almost all her patients are in some way pained and fatigued
- •Four-fifths of fibromyalgia and ME/CFS patients met criteria for symptomatic hypermobility, but only one-fifth knew
- •Hypermobility predicted pain, fatigue and brain fog levels
- •Hypermobile people were 30% more likely to have Long COVID in a study of 3,000 people
- •Early studies suggest guanfacine may be promising for Long COVID
Practical Help and Resources for Hypermobile People with ADHD
Asked how listeners can help themselves, Eccles describes a difficult medical landscape with long waiting lists and low awareness. She points to charities, a GP toolkit and her Linktree, and stresses that people are not making it up.
- •Many people are undiagnosed and waiting lists are poor
- •She is a patron of SEDs Connective and ADHD Aware
- •The Ehlers-Danlos Society has a GP toolkit relevant to hypermobile people
- •Printing her papers to take to a GP or physio is suggested
- •You are not alone and it's not just anxiety
The ADHD Item: Dancing as a Metaphor
Alex reveals Eccles's ADHD item, a dance book. She says she can't dance but sees her connection-making and tangents as a kind of dancing, reflecting on the strengths and challenges of hypermobile performers and neurodivergent conversation.
- •Eccles is AuDHD and says she can't dance
- •Her tangents and joining of ideas are a type of dancing
- •She rejects an "ADHD superpower" narrative in favour of strengths and challenges
- •She is researching creativity, hypermobility and neurodivergence in performance
- •Neurodivergent-to-neurodivergent conversation can be its own form of dancing
Agony Aunt: ME/CFS, Fatigue and ADHD
In the Washing Machine of Woes segment, a viewer asks whether chronic fatigue could connect to ADHD and hypermobility. Eccles says yes, citing her adult study and the ALSPAC birth cohort showing early ADHD characteristics doubled the odds of chronic disabling fatigue at 18, explained by inflammation.
- •She says ME/CFS is misunderstood and needs more research, and mentions plans to trial low-dose naltrexone
- •A forthcoming paper found a link between neurodivergence and chronic pain and fatigue explained by hypermobility
- •In ALSPAC, ADHD characteristics at seven to nine meant twice the likelihood of chronic disabling fatigue at 18
- •Inflammation at age nine explained that relationship
- •Managing POTS symptoms and energy accounting are important, and she distinguishes burn out from burn up
Future Research and ADHD as Core to Mental Health
Eccles returns to Alex's earlier question about the next five years. She expects better understanding of how ADHD and autism relate to existing psychiatric constructs and argues they are central to how people experience anxiety, depression and mood problems.
- •Future work will clarify how ADHD and autism relate to common diagnostic constructs in psychiatry
- •Some colleagues treat ADHD or autism as something on the side
- •Eccles says they are central to how anxiety and depression are experienced
- •ADHD cannot be left in a bag outside the studio
Letter from the Previous Guest: Self-Acceptance and Bending Without Breaking
Alex delivers a letter from the previous guest with three rules to live by, and Eccles reads the first rules aloud. She reflects on bending without breaking, radical self-acceptance and not shaving off one's hard edges, before closing and pointing listeners to her Linktree.
- •The letter's rule: embrace your whole self, even the opposing sides
- •Eccles cites Isabel Knight's book Bending Without Breaking
- •She advises being self-compassionate but also your own fan
- •Growing up with ADHD can involve shaving off hard edges and people pleasing
- •Her resources are at Linktree bendybrain

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