ADHD, Autism and the Body

ADHD and autism shape how a brain works, and the body is part of the picture too. The ADHD and autism pages cover therapy itself.

A link in a study is not a cause. Several of these studies count what doctors recorded, so they show what was noted, not why.

What NICE asks for

NICE guidance in England already counts the body as part of an assessment. For ADHD, NICE says this:

As part of the diagnostic process, include an assessment of the person's needs, coexisting conditions, social, familial and educational or occupational circumstances, and physical health.

For adults being assessed for autism, NICE asks assessors to "enquire about and assess" a list of areas. The list takes in "past and current physical and mental disorders".

Sources: NICE NG87, NICE CG142

Hormones and the cycle

PMDD stands for premenstrual dysphoric disorder. It brings deep low mood, anger or worry in the days before a period. It usually eases within a few days of the period starting.

A 2018 study followed 32 young women through their cycle. They were not chosen for having ADHD. ADHD-type signs tended to rise the day after oestrogen fell and other hormones rose.

In 2025, a UK survey asked over 700 young women about mood and their cycle. All were aged 18-34. Those with an ADHD diagnosis were about three times as likely to show signs of PMDD.

The women reported their own diagnoses online, and a screen is not a diagnosis. The risk was highest in women who also had depression or anxiety.

The same year, a review drew on what doctors see in their clinics. Many women with ADHD say their medicine works less well in the days before a period. Others say things get harder around the menopause.

The review rests on clinical experience, not trial data. Questions about medicine belong with the doctor who prescribes it. The menopause page covers that stage of life.

Sources: Roberts et al. 2018, Broughton et al. 2025, Wynchank et al. 2025

Joints and hypermobility

Hypermobility means joints that bend further than most. Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are a group of inherited conditions. They affect the tissue that holds the body together, often the joints.

A Swedish study used national health records. It compared over 1,700 people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome with similar people without it. Autism was 7.4 times as common in the Ehlers-Danlos group.

ADHD was 5.6 times as common. In people with hypermobility syndrome, ADHD was 5.8 times as common, but the link with autism was much smaller.

A UK study checked the joints of 109 neurodivergent adults. Just over half of them, 51%, were hypermobile. The study put the rate in the general population at 20%.

Compared with another group of adults, they felt dizzy on standing more often. They also had more pain in their joints and muscles.

Postural tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, means a heartbeat that speeds up on standing, often with dizziness. The studies of POTS alongside ADHD and autism are small, so we give no figure for it.

Sources: Cederlöf et al. 2016, Csecs et al. 2022, NHS: PoTS

Sleep

A Danish study used national health records for children and teenagers. Each had just been diagnosed with ADHD or autism. Within five years, 29% of those with ADHD had a sleep problem on record.

For autism, the figure was 24%. Both were far higher than in young people with neither diagnosis.

Sleep problems were more common in girls than in boys. Much of the extra risk in autism was linked to ADHD occurring alongside it.

This study looked at young people, so it may not fit adults. The sleep page covers what helps at any age.

Source: Hvolby et al. 2021

Pain and the gut

German health insurance records cover over 87k people with ADHD. Fibromyalgia, a long-term pain across the body, was about three times as likely to be on record. The comparison was with similar people without ADHD.

A 2025 review pooled 11 studies of ADHD and the gut. In the studies that measured it, irritable bowel syndrome was about 1.6 times as likely with ADHD. Other gut conditions showed no clear link.

The chronic illness page covers life with a long-term condition.

Sources: Libutzki et al. 2024, Ng et al. 2025

Who helps with what

A GP looks at physical symptoms and can refer on to a specialist. A therapist who understands neurodivergence can work alongside the GP, never in place of them.

Their part is the life around the symptoms.

• Being passed between services, with nobody joining up the picture
• Worry about appointments, and about not being believed
• Pacing work, rest and plans around a body that changes week to week
• Frustration and grief at a diagnosis that came late, or has not come yet

Many people find that a short note of symptoms across a month helps at the GP. A therapist can help you put that note together.