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What is interoception? -

Interoception is the awareness of the signals that your internal organs send to your brain. This includes the heart, the lungs, the gut, and the bladder. It’s the ability to recognize the sensations coming from inside your body.

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Behind the scenes - Our organs are in constant communication with our brains, but usually at a subconscious level that we’re not aware of. We won’t feel our bodies regulating our blood pressure or blood sugar levels, but there are certain internal sensations we are aware of.

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The heartbeat - For example, if you sit quietly and close your eyes, you can feel your own heartbeat. In fact, you might be able to hear it like the sound is coming from inside your ears rather than outside.

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Common signals -

We’re able to recognize all sorts of signals that our organs send to our brains, like hunger, thirst, nausea, the need to use the bathroom, and even itchiness (the skin is the body’s largest organ, after all).

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Interoception and emotions -

Another example is the clenching of the stomach muscles or any other kind of tension in the body. This awareness of interoception is particularly important when it comes to our emotions and state of well-being.

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Fear response -

If you are suddenly faced with an angry growling dog, your body will respond in a flash. Your heart rate will increase and your muscles will tense up. This is a physiological reaction to fear, but it occurs before you even become aware that you’re feeling fear.

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Body before mind -

According to modern scientists, we only become aware of our emotional state once we notice the change in our physical state through interoception. Fear, happiness, sadness, and excitement all give off physical signals within the body. Interoception is deeply linked to intuition. 

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Individual awareness -

Each person has a different level of awareness of their interoceptive signals. A group of people could be asked to count their heartbeats over a minute without taking their pulse and then compare it to the real reading. There is likely to be a wide variation in how accurately they were able to count their heartbeats.

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Impact on well-being -

The awareness level of our interoceptive signals is directly linked to our ability to regulate our emotions. If you notice when your heart rate increases, your muscles are tense, and your breathing is shallow, you’re able to recognize that you’re upset or anxious.

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Emotional intelligence - This gives you a better insight into what’s happening at that moment and allows you to make better decisions. If you’re feeling overwhelmed then you might pause, recognize the emotions, and take a few deep breaths. If you’re having a confrontation with a co-worker, you can recognize that you’re getting worked up and take a step back.

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Interoception and mental health - If you are unaware and unfamiliar with your body’s signals, then you’re less likely to be able to regulate your emotions. This is why interoception is deeply linked with mental health and well-being.

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Depression and disconnection -

A study of a large group of people suffering from depression showed that they had low levels of interoceptive awareness of their heartbeats. If you’re unable to feel the signals your body is sending, this may leave you feeling lethargic and emotionally numb. These are common symptoms of depression.

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Anxiety and hyper-awareness -

Those who suffer from anxiety are more likely to be in touch with their interoceptive signals, but may interpret them poorly. Physical symptoms of anxiety include increased heart rate, tightness in the chest, shallow breathing, increased body temperature, and many more.

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Survival instincts -

Our bodies react strongly to stress and anxiety because these are directly linked to our survival. Your body goes into an intense state of preparation when it senses a threat, releasing adrenaline and cortisol, and reducing functioning to non-essential organs.

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Modern fear stimuli - Nowadays, a 'threat' might be a job interview or a social situation that makes us nervous, rather than a hungry tiger! Our bodies don’t know that, but we do. Regardless, some people with anxiety start to panic more when they notice the interoceptive signals that they’re experiencing stress.

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Catastrophizing of body signals - Those who experience a panic attack for the first time often think they’re having a heart attack and end up in the emergency room. Even in less dramatic circumstances, the physical signals of anxiety can increase the feelings of fear and worsen the emotional experience for some.

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Intuition and detachment -

Studies suggest that our interoception is linked to our deep sense of intuition. Our bodies respond before we’re even consciously aware of what’s happening. Those who have a poor sense of interoception may feel detached, which can be a sign of more serious mental illness.

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Early signs of mental illness - Researchers believe that decreased sensitivity to interoceptive signals can be a sign of mental dissociation, which may be a precursor to delusions and psychosis. The person is becoming less and less connected with themselves and with reality.

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Sense of self - Interoception helps us to form our most basic sense of self. Patients suffering from psychosis often seem to experience a sort of depersonalization that disconnects them from this sense.

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Interoceptive therapies -

New therapies are being developed to see if increased interoceptive awareness can help to treat anxiety and other mental health issues. Those with autism are more likely to struggle with interoception, as well as anxiety, and early studies suggest that interoceptive training can significantly reduce their stress levels.

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Emotional regulation -

Greater awareness of your interoceptive signals can help you to recognize your emotional state, decatastrophize, and formulate a helpful response to the situation that reduces your stress levels.

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Interoceptive mindfulness -

Professor Cynthia Price at the University of Washington has been developing a new form of mindfulness that focuses on interoception. Mindfulness usually deals with the mental experience and quieting of the mind, but Price’s method brings the focus to the interoceptive sensations in the body.

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Research with addiction -

Her initial work has been with patients suffering from substance abuse issues. They often struggle to regulate their emotions and feel disconnected from themselves, which exacerbates their addiction.

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Promising results -

So far, this form of interoceptive mindfulness has been shown to reduce depression and cravings in her patients. A year-long study showed that it increased the patients’ ability to abstain from substance abuse, in comparison to the standard treatments.

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Beneficial for all - However, interoceptive mindfulness isn’t just helpful for those suffering from serious conditions. Professor Price believes this practice can be beneficial to anyone wishing to reduce stress and bring more awareness into their lives.

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From the inside out -

Incredibly, our interoceptive signals can also influence our external senses, such as sight and sound. They say that seeing is believing, but in this case, it’s more like believing is seeing.

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Interoception and racial bias -

If your body believes you are in danger and begins sending interoceptive signals of fear, you are more likely to see a threat in front of you, even if it’s not there. This has been shown in the case of racial biases.

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Bias and fear -

It’s a sad but well-known fact that Black suspects are more than twice as likely to be killed by police when unarmed compared to White suspects. Objects like cell phones or wallets are often misidentified as weapons because the police officer has a much stronger belief that a Black person is likely to be a threat.

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Fear and misjudgment - A study conducted in a lab showed that this racial bias is deeply ingrained in some people. The White participants showed an increased heart rate and were more likely to misidentify a harmless object as a weapon when it was followed by an image of a Black person.

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We see what we believe - The conclusion of the study was that the heart rate can actually enhance a person’s perception of the fear-inducing stimuli.

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The complexity of the human body -

In general, we think of the brain as the motherboard at the top of the pyramid that controls the rest of the body. Interoception shows us that the brain is often just responding to signals from our internal organs, so it may in fact be the other way around.

Sources: (Psychological Science) (Frontiers) (The Guardian)

See also: Why do we think we're right even when we're wrong?

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