Different Pieces.
A More Complete Picture.
ALPIMS is a way of looking at six areas that may overlap in complex health, neurodivergence and everyday life: anxiety and autonomic regulation, laxity, pain, immune and inflammatory experiences, mood and mental health, and sensory and neurodevelopmental differences.
It is not about putting everyone into one diagnosis. It is a way of stepping back and asking whether different experiences may be interacting while still recognising that every person is different.
Explore the Domains ↓ Anna’s Story →Six Domains. One Bigger Picture.
Some people may experience difficulties mainly within one domain. Others may have experiences spanning several.
Even within the same family, the pattern can look very different.
The aim is not to prove that everything has one cause. It is to notice connections that may otherwise be missed.
Anxiety & Autonomic
Nervous-system regulation, physiological arousal, stress responses and autonomic function.
- Anxiety and heightened arousal
- Dysautonomia and POTS
- Fight, flight, freeze and shutdown
- Sleep and temperature regulation
- Panic-like physical symptoms
Laxity & Connective Tissue
Joint flexibility, stability, connective tissue and how these may affect movement and comfort.
- Generalised or localised hypermobility
- Hypermobility spectrum disorder
- Joint instability
- TMJ and musculoskeletal problems
- Proprioception and muscle fatigue
Pain & Bodily Sensitivity
Persistent or recurrent pain and increased sensitivity to physical and internal sensations.
- Migraine and headache
- Chronic or widespread pain
- Neuropathic pain
- Pelvic, bladder and menstrual pain
- Heightened bodily sensitivity
Immune, Inflammatory & Illness Vulnerability
Immune function, allergy, inflammatory experiences, infection and patterns of prolonged recovery.
- Allergy and asthma
- Post-viral illness
- ME/CFS-type patterns
- Mast-cell-related symptoms
- Food, gastrointestinal and environmental sensitivities
Mood, Mental Health & Regulation
Emotional wellbeing, mental health, trauma, regulation and the psychological effects of chronic difficulty.
- Anxiety and depression
- Trauma and PTSD
- Emotional dysregulation
- Burnout and chronic stress
- Grief and adjustment
Sensory & Neurodevelopmental
How people sense, process and respond to their environment, together with neurodevelopmental differences.
- Autism and ADHD
- Sensory processing differences
- Misophonia and hyperacusis
- Executive-function difficulties
- Masking, overload and shutdown
How the Domains Can Overlap
The six domains are not separate boxes. What is happening in one area may change how manageable another area feels.
Poor sleep → greater autonomic arousal → increased migraine → lower sensory tolerance → reduced capacity
Pain → less restorative sleep → fatigue → greater difficulty managing sensory and emotional demands
These examples do not mean that one domain always causes another.
They simply show why looking at a single symptom or diagnosis may sometimes miss part of the person’s experience.
Pain, fatigue, illness, sensory demands, emotional stress and autonomic activation can all affect the capacity available for everyday life.
Explore How ALPIMS Overlaps →Different People Can Have Different Patterns
Two people can share some of the same domains while having very different experiences.
Autonomic symptoms, migraine and sensory sensitivity may be most prominent.
Hypermobility and musculoskeletal pain may be the main difficulties.
Illness, fatigue, autonomic symptoms, pain and sensory intolerance may interact.
Neurodevelopmental differences, overload, burnout and emotional wellbeing may be central.
Anna’s Family Through the ALPIMS Lens
Anna spent many years dealing with what appeared to be separate health, sensory and emotional difficulties within her family.
Different family members experienced different combinations of pain, fatigue, autonomic symptoms, hypermobility, allergy and immune-related problems, sensory differences, neurodivergence and mental-health challenges.
Looking back through the ALPIMS lens did not give Anna one diagnosis that explained everyone.
Instead, it helped her see how different experiences could overlap — and why people within the same family could still have very different patterns.
What was happening?
What did we think was happening at the time?
What did we try?
What seemed to help?
What had unintended costs?
What do we understand differently now?
Using the ALPIMS Lens
It may help you ask…
- What seems hardest right now?
- Which domains appear most relevant?
- What else might be adding to the person’s total load?
- Are pain, fatigue or sensory overload reducing capacity?
- Does the person’s capacity change from day to day?
- What support would make a useful difference?
ALPIMS is not…
- A diagnosis
- A medical test
- A scoring system
- A claim that all these conditions have one cause
- A requirement to fit all six domains
- A replacement for individual medical assessment
It is a way of organising information and looking more broadly at a person’s experience.
A More Complete Picture
ALPIMS is not about putting everyone into one box. It is about looking across different areas and noticing how the pieces may sometimes connect.
Different people. Different combinations.
Understanding the pattern without losing the person.