Super Flexible Not Superhuman

Client: TEM-PLE

This is the story of how the visceral power of design made the world wince in empathy with sufferers of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome by visualising their invisible pain for all to feel.

Whilst a flexible body is often considered a gift, for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome sufferers (EDS) it means chronic, even life-limiting pain through regular joint dislocation, skin scarring, organ fragility and debilitating fatigue.

The problem is that the pain and damage hyper flexibility causes is largely invisible. Gaslighting causes further suffering. “But you look normal”, “You’re a hypochondriac.” Even GPs lack awareness of EDS meaning the average diagnosis takes 10 years!

Our goal was to get EDS on society’s radar to raise awareness among undiagnosed sufferers, GPs, and the wider public, helping people understand that hyper flexibility could be EDS.

The campaign Super Flexible Not Superhuman addressed the painful truth behind hyper flexibility capturing the vulnerability of sufferers, using CGI to make their pain visceral.

Our research found ‘seeing is feeling’ with over 73% of respondents (survey of 157 adults) claiming they could ‘almost feel the pain of the sufferers’ in the images.

It was picked up by publications around the world with a combined audience of 726K with 29K campaign site views.

Most importantly, the campaign has had a positive impact on the lives of sufferers who feel ‘seen’ for the first time and hopeful of what greater awareness may bring.

It’s just a start but we’ve finally unlocked the invisible suffering of EDS for all to feel.