Interoception and Psychopathology

‘Interoception’ is an umbrella term describing internal processes and the unconscious and conscious processing of these, e.g., perception of one’s heartbeat, respiration, or more generally a sense of the internal milieu. A considerable body of theoretical and empirical work suggests that bodily sensations play an important role in the experience of emotion. Psychiatric disorders generally involve emotional disturbance, and consideration of interoception is important in helping to illuminate the underlying cognitive and neurophysiological mechanisms. Scientific study of interoceptive processes and experiences can help further our understanding of clinical psychopathology and may suggest potential new treatment modalities for psychiatric conditions. Alongside the development of a fine-grained phenomenology of subjective emotional experience and its relationship to internal bodily states, the physiological systems through which emotions are generated are important targets of study for psychiatry.