ADHD & Hypermobility: The Body–Brain Link

About this episode

This episode explores the connection between ADHD and hypermobility, discussing its implications for children's health and behavior.

How are ADHD and hypermobility connected? And what does that mean for our kids’ bodies, brains and behaviour? In this episode, Claire is joined by Dr Jessica Eccles, Consultant Psychiatrist, Associate Professor in Brain–Body Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and award‑winning researcher. Drawing on over 17 years of research, Jessica unpacks: 🤸‍♀️What hypermobility really is: exploring hypermobility as a clue to connective tissue differences affecting joints, gut, blood vessels, lungs, skin & more. 👀Clues for parents to spot hypermobility early: such as sitting in “the W position”, sway‑back knees, frequent ankle sprains, “clicky hips” & long thin fingers or toes. 😵‍💫Pain, dizziness, POTS & standing in queues : how loose connective tissue affects blood flow, and can cause light‑headedness or palpitations, causing struggles with things like school assemblies, queues & hot showers. 🧬The prevalence of hypermobility in women with ADHD and autism (nearly 70%!) : the fascinating research linking hypermobility with many other conditions, including ADHD, autism and Tourette’s, dizziness, inflammation, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and long Covid. 🌡️The…

People in this episode

Host: Claire Quigley Ward

Guest: Dr Jessica Eccles

Topics covered

• ADHD
• hypermobility
• connective tissue
• children's health
• emotion regulation
• interoception

Keywords

• ADHD
• hypermobility
• connective tissue
• children's behavior
• emotion regulation
• interoception
• POTS
• autism
• chronic fatigue

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Brighton and Sussex Medical School

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