About this episode

Dr. Jessica Eccles discusses the connections between hypermobility, ADHD, and autism, highlighting the emotional and sensory challenges faced by individuals with bendy bodies.

Dr. Jessica Eccles, an award-winning neurodevelopmental psychiatrist, returns for a deep dive into the profound connections between hypermobility, variant connective tissue, and the neurodivergent brain. In this conversation, she explores why individuals with bendy bodies are significantly more likely to be autistic or have ADHD, and how these conditions create a "spiky profile" of sensory and emotional challenges. Dr. Eccles unpacks the embodied nature of rejection sensitivity, describing it as a physical "punch in the chest" and reveals how improving proprioception (your sense of where you are in space) can actually stabilize emotional regulation. This episode provides a vital unifying framework for those who have spent years feeling misunderstood by the medical community, offering both a shared narrative and practical tools for healing. Takeaways: The Shared Narrative: Healing requires a shared framework between doctor and patient; without a narrative that unifies brain and body symptoms, patients often experience clinician-associated trauma. Proprioceptive Surprise: Hypermobile individuals often experience "proprioceptive surprise," where uncertainty about the body's position…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Linda Bluestein

Guest: Dr. Jessica Eccles

Topics covered

• ADHD
• autism
• hypermobility
• neurodivergent brain
• emotional regulation
• sensory challenges

Keywords

• hypermobility
• ADHD
• autism
• rejection sensitivity
• proprioception
• emotional dysregulation
• neurodevelopmental psychiatry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: medical community

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