What is interoception?
Interoception is quickly becoming known as the eighth sense. It is defined as the “process of how the nervous system senses, interprets, and integrates signals originating from within the body” (Quigley et al., 2021, p.29).
When we check in with ourselves, become present to what is happening inside the body then we can approach our many daily tasks with authentic awareness and consent.
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But how does it impact our daily life?
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Through nerve receptors in our body we subconsciously send messages to the brain which indicate our response to stimuli. Stimuli or information from our environment, when the body is feeling hot, hungry, thirsty, needing to use the bathroom - we can then respond in an appropriate way.
Where is the interoceptive system?
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The nerves live within our mya fascia, our skin or any living tissue that has the ability to retain and communicate information (cells).
How is interoception related to emotional regulation?
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Lets consider the inconvenience of dropping our smart phone and cracking the screen. The first feeling will be one of dysregulation. This may show up in the body as tension in our face, neck, or shoulders, our tummy may feel as though it is in knots, our fists or teeth may clench and our brain will register this as annoyance, irritation, discontentment, or frustration
(and the list goes on). Along with these feelings the brain will begin its many thought processes about the event and using pre-wired responses the body will then begin to express itself accordingly, in a manner that the person finds helpful. A manner that is unique to them based on their window of tolerance, their ability self regulate and their current state
of health. Stimuli = Sensation = Emotion = Reaction
Is interoception linked to ADHD or ASD?
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Yes, it plays a vital role in connecting to many of the executive functions. My work with interoception feels deeply useful in the understanding we have around the pervasive impact that Impulsivity has in both mental health and learning deficits. There are varying opinions regarding the number of functions involved in the executive function skillset, however I feel interoception is at the core of coming back to self and the present moment in a good portion of them. As we understand more about neurodiversity and the effect that emotion has on the human body, then we can link rising emotion to sensation and become more present to how our body can interpret sensation, how we can potentially slow the process down, train our brain to dial into our current reality and create moments of conscious reaction to our environment.