Physical health · Sanctum

Bendy, unstable joints

Double-jointed. Joints that slip, sprain or dislocate easily. Clumsiness, aching joints, skin that bruises or stretches, and a body that has felt fragile or bendy for as long as you can remember.

Hypermobility, where the connective tissue that holds the body together is more elastic than usual, turns up far more often alongside ADHD and autism than chance would explain. The same underlying biology seems to shape both the brain and the body’s framework, so the bendy joints and the neurodivergent brain often travel together.

Because joints get sent to one clinic and the brain to another, the link between them is rarely made, and people spend years with unexplained pain, injuries and fatigue that no one connects to the bigger picture.

We look at the body’s framework as part of the whole, because for many people the physical and the neurological are two ends of the same thread. None of this is a diagnosis, and we are not here to replace your other doctors. It is what we explore with you.

Written by Dr Asad RaffiConsultant Psychiatrist · Founder & Medical Director