内感受
Interoception is the nervous system’s capacity to sense and interpret the internal signals of the body.
This isn’t just about noticing a racing heart or a grumbling stomach.
It’s about how the brain translates this constant stream of bodily information into meaningful psychological experiences, including emotions, a sense of self, and the capacity for regulation.
Key Takeaways
- Interoception has many parts: It’s not just about sensing bodily signals but also paying attention to them, telling them apart, and knowing how accurate your awareness really is.
- Much of it is unconscious: Your body regulates itself automatically, so feeling “bad” at interoception often means you’re less aware of the signals, not that your body isn’t working.
- Examples: Feeling full after eating, getting butterflies before an event, noticing thirst on a hot day, sensing a racing heart during exercise, feeling tired after a long day, or shivering when cold.
- Awareness differs across systems: You might easily notice your heartbeat but struggle to sense hunger, changes in temperature, or your breathing.
- Function: Internal body signals shape how we experience and regulate feelings, like recognizing anxiety through a racing heart or calm through steady breathing.
- Causes: Trauma, stress, mental health conditions, and even cultural habits can all influence how clearly you notice and interpret signals from your body.
- Training: Practices like mindfulness, body scans, and yoga can strengthen interoceptive awareness can help re-train the brain to notice and interpret body signals more accurately.
Examples
Interoception is not some rare, abstract process — it’s woven into daily life in countless ways.
Here are the main categories of signals, along with familiar examples that show how the body speaks to the brain:
Physiological States
- Hunger and Thirst: The gnawing feeling of an empty stomach, or the dry mouth that drives you to drink water. Ignoring these signals can lead to irritability, sometimes called being “hangry.”
- Heart Rate and Breathing: Noticing your pulse pounding after climbing stairs, or the sense of breathlessness when anxious. These same signals can feel energising during exercise but alarming in a quiet room.
- Body Temperature: Shivering on a cold morning, breaking into a sweat in hot weather, or feeling goosebumps during an emotional moment.
- Pain and Discomfort: A stomach ache, menstrual cramps, muscle soreness after a workout, or the dull throb of a headache. Pain is one of the clearest interoceptive alarms.
- Bladder and Gut Distension: The pressure of a full bladder, bloating after a heavy meal, or the relief that follows digestion.
Emotional and Cognitive States
- Butterflies in the Stomach: A fluttery sensation before a big presentation or first date, reflecting how anxiety and excitement overlap in the body.
- Lump in the Throat: A tightness that can come with grief, sadness, or the urge to cry.
- Muscle Tension: A clenched jaw or stiff shoulders during stress, followed by the sense of release when you relax.
- Sweating and Dryness: Damp palms during a job interview or a dry mouth before public speaking.
- Gut Feelings: The intuitive “sense” that something is right or wrong, often guided by subtle digestive or visceral signals.
- Mood and Energy Levels: Feeling sluggish after a poor night’s sleep, jittery after too much caffeine, or calm after a slow exhale.
Additional Bodily Signals
- Palpitations: The awareness of a skipped beat, flutter, or pounding heart, which can be benign or anxiety-triggering depending on context.
- Nausea and Gut Churn: The queasiness of motion sickness, or the urge to vomit after spoiled food.
- Blood-Sugar Dips: Shakiness, foggy thinking, or sudden irritability that disappears once you eat.
- Air Hunger: The urge to take a deep breath or sigh, especially when stressed or after holding your breath.
- Dizziness and Lightheadedness: That brief head rush when standing up too quickly, caused by blood pressure changes.
- Itch and Urge to Scratch: A mosquito bite or allergic reaction demanding attention.
- Menstrual Cues: Pelvic cramps, heaviness, or cyclic tenderness as part of reproductive rhythms.
why it matters?
Interoception is not merely a background physiological process.
It is the very bedrock of our psychological lives, forming the raw material for our emotions, shaping our sense of self, and providing the essential information we need to consciously regulate our internal world and navigate our relationships.
Emotions and Mental Health
The relationship between our internal bodily state and our emotions is foundational. Emotions are not just abstract mental events; they are deeply embodied experiences that arise from our brain’s interpretation of physiological signals.
- Body signals become feelings. A racing heart can mean you’re anxious before a test, or excited before a first date. Context and interpretation matter.
- Anxiety and panic. Some people notice every tiny change in their body – like a skipped heartbeat or a quickened breath – and this heightened sensitivity can spiral into worry.
- Trauma. Traumatic experiences often leave people disconnected from their bodies. Re-learning to sense signals like breathing can help restore safety and control.
- Affect and granularity. Before emotions are named, the body generates a general feeling tone—pleasant or unpleasant, calm or aroused. Being able to recognise and label these sensations with precision (sometimes called emotional granularity) helps us manage them more effectively.
- Self-regulation. By tuning into internal cues, we can learn skills like slowing the breath to calm the nervous system—very useful for managing stress or panic attacks.
Self-Awareness and Mind-Body Connection
Interoception is the foundation of self-awareness. It connects the brain and body, allowing us to notice not just what we think, but what we feel. This process shapes our identity, our capacity for self-reflection, and our understanding of who we are.
- The embodied self. Our most basic sense of being “me” comes from interoception. The brain continuously integrates signals from the body to create the felt sense of being alive and present. Interoception gives us the embodied sense of “I am here, in this body, in this moment. Without this, our identity would feel hollow or fragmented.
- Authenticity and reflection. Staying connected to internal signals allows us to tell the difference between our own needs and external pressures. This underpins authenticity – living in line with our values—and supports self-reflection, the ability to observe and learn from our patterns.
- Distraction and disconnection. In a world of constant stimulation, many people lose touch with these inner cues. Taking even brief moments to “check in” with the body can restore grounding and clarity.
Regulation and Daily Life
Emotion regulation is the ability to manage and modulate our emotional experiences. This capacity is deeply tied to our ability to accurately perceive and interpret our internal bodily signals.
- Body as a regulatory tool. Because emotions live in the body, the body is also the way back to balance. Techniques like slow breathing, yoga, or posture shifts calm the nervous system by activating the vagus nerve, which helps shift us from stress to safety.
- Awareness first, then control. You can’t regulate an emotion you don’t notice. Interoceptive awareness allows us to catch early warning signs – tightness in the chest, rising irritability – before they build into overwhelm.
- Co-regulation with others. Humans are wired to regulate together. A baby calms in a caregiver’s arms; adults also borrow regulation from the presence of trusted, steady people. Therapy, relationships, and community all strengthen this capacity.
- Everyday functioning. Interoception guides simple but vital behaviours: eating when hungry, resting when tired, drinking when thirsty. Exercise further sharpens these skills by training us to notice and manage shifts in heart rate, breath, and energy.
How Can Interoception Be Practised and Improved?
The good news is that interoceptive awareness isn’t fixed – it can be trained and strengthened.
Improving interoception is about moving from being unconsciously driven by bodily reactions to becoming a curious, active observer of your inner landscape.
With consistent practice – whether through mindfulness, breathwork, somatic awareness, or lifestyle care – you can learn to listen more closely to your body’s signals.
This not only supports emotional regulation but also builds resilience, presence, and a deeper sense of self.
1. Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness is perhaps the most direct – and most studied – method for building interoceptive skills.
It’s defined as “paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and without judgment.”
Far from being just a relaxation tool, mindfulness physically reshapes the brain through neuroplasticity, strengthening regions such as the insula and anterior cingulate cortex, which are central to body awareness.
How it works:
By repeatedly turning attention inward – to the breath, bodily sensations, and emotions—you train the mind to notice subtle internal cues.
This creates a pause between trigger and reaction, supporting self-regulation.
Examples of practice:
- Body Scan Meditation: Moving awareness systematically from head to toe, noticing sensations like tingling, tightness, or stillness.
- Mindful Breathing: Anchoring attention in the physical sensations of the breath, helping regulate stress and calm the nervous system.
- Mindful Movement (e.g., Yoga): Combining postures, breath, and awareness to connect body signals with emotional and mental states.
2. Breathwork
Breathing is unique: it happens automatically, but we can also control it. That makes it a direct portal to our interoceptive system.
How it works:
Different breathing patterns influence the autonomic nervous system.
Slow, diaphragmatic breathing with a long exhale activates the parasympathetic system (“rest and digest”), while quicker, inhale-focused breathing stimulates the sympathetic system (“fight or flight”).
Examples of practice:
- Diaphragmatic Breathing: Breathing deeply into the belly rather than the chest.
- Box Breathing: Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4.
- Physiological Sigh: Two quick inhales through the nose, then a long exhale through the mouth—shown to quickly reduce stress.
- Alternate Nostril Breathing: A yogic technique that balances arousal and focus.
3. Somatic and Body-Oriented Practices
These methods emphasize the body itself – the “soma” – as the pathway to healing and integration.
How it works:
By deliberately focusing on posture, movement, and sensation, you can process and release stress stored in the nervous system.
This restores a sense of safety and presence.
Examples of practice:
- Grounding: Noticing the feeling of your feet on the floor or the chair supporting you.
- Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE): Movements that trigger natural shaking to discharge stress.
- Self-Soothing Gestures: Placing a hand on the heart, hugging yourself, or gentle stroking—all of which calm the nervous system.
4. Lifestyle and Self-Care
Training interoception isn’t limited to meditation cushions or therapy rooms—it also depends on how you live day to day.
How it works:
Healthy routines support the brain and body systems that generate interoceptive signals.
Mitochondria – the tiny “power plants” inside cells – play a key role, providing the energy for accurate signalling between body and brain.
Examples of practice:
- Exercise: Regular movement enhances mood, resilience, and gives practice in interpreting arousal (e.g., a racing heart during exercise is safe, not threatening).
- Nutrition and Sleep: Balanced food and sufficient rest reduce “noise” in the system, helping interoceptive signals stand out more clearly.
- Journaling: Reflective writing helps connect events with internal reactions, strengthening self-awareness.
Clinical Relevance
The science of interoception is reshaping how we understand mental health.
Instead of viewing conditions purely as collections of symptoms, researchers increasingly see them as disruptions in the body–brain feedback loop.
When the brain struggles to accurately sense, interpret, and regulate the body’s internal signals, the result can be anxiety, depression, eating disorders, or difficulties seen in autism and ADHD.
In short: dysfunctional interoception is emerging as a shared thread across many conditions.
Anxiety, Panic, and PTSD
Anxiety is one of the clearest examples of interoception gone awry.
- Misinterpreted signals. Panic attacks can strike “out of the blue” when the brain mistakenly reads harmless bodily changes—like a skipped heartbeat—as signs of danger.
- Hypervigilance. Many anxious people are overly attuned to subtle shifts in breathing or stomach sensations, which fuels worry and avoidance.
- Trauma and PTSD. Trauma disrupts the brain’s predictive models, leaving the body on constant alert or, conversely, disconnected from sensation. PTSD is often described as a “disorder of disembodiment.” Therapy frequently focuses on helping people safely re-engage with bodily cues like breath and heartbeat.
- Metabolic stress. Chronic stress changes metabolism by disrupting cortisol and blood sugar regulation. These shifts feed back into the body, amplifying the physiological state we recognize as anxiety.
Depression
Depression is increasingly viewed through a physiological and metabolic lens rather than a simple “chemical imbalance.”
- Brain energy problems. Persistent depression may reflect mitochondrial or metabolic dysfunction in brain cells, leaving people depleted, fatigued, and unable to experience pleasure.
- Blunted interoception. Research shows that people with depression often struggle to accurately perceive internal signals, such as heartbeat, contributing to the numbness and disconnection they describe.
- Inflammation and “sickness behaviour.” Depression shares features with the body’s inflammatory response: low energy, withdrawal, and loss of motivation. Conditions like obesity and diabetes—which disrupt metabolism—also increase depression risk, creating a vicious cycle.
- Emotion regulation. Because emotions are built from bodily signals, difficulties in processing these signals lead to the persistent negative states seen in depression.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders reveal the consequences of losing touch with internal signals.
- Hunger and satiety confusion. People with anorexia or bulimia often have difficulty perceiving when they are hungry or full. Studies also find reduced accuracy in heartbeat perception tasks.
- Alexithymia. Many individuals struggle to identify or describe their emotions. This “lack of words for feelings” is closely tied to poor interoceptive sensitivity.
- Maladaptive coping. Restriction, bingeing, and purging often function as attempts to manage overwhelming emotional or bodily states when internal cues cannot be understood directly.
Autism and ADHD
Interoception also offers new insights into neurodevelopmental conditions.
- Autism. While autism itself is not defined by interoceptive deficits, many autistic people experience co-occurring alexithymia, which affects emotion recognition and empathy. Interoceptive differences may also explain the altered pain perception and frequent gastrointestinal symptoms seen in autism.
- ADHD. Difficulties with self-regulation in ADHD can involve a disconnect from bodily cues, sometimes linked to early stress or trauma. From a physiological perspective, ADHD is also associated with the same metabolic and mitochondrial disruptions found in other mental health conditions. This reframes it as part of a broader spectrum of brain–body regulation issues.
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Associate Editor for Simply Psychology
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology, where she contributes accessible content on psychological topics. She is also an autistic PhD student at the University of Birmingham, researching autistic camouflaging in higher education.
内感受
内感受是神经系统感知和解释身体内部信号的能力。
这不仅仅是注意到心跳加速或胃部咕咕叫。
这是关于大脑如何将这种持续的身体信息流转化为有意义的心理体验，包括情绪、自我意识和调节能力。
要点
- 内感受有很多部分：它不仅仅是感知身体信号，还要关注它们，区分它们，并了解你的意识到底有多准确。
- 其中大部分是无意识的：您的身体会自动调节自身，因此内感受“不好”通常意味着您不太意识到这些信号，而不是您的身体不工作。
- 例如：吃完饭后感觉饱，在活动前感到紧张，在炎热的天气里感到口渴，在锻炼时感觉到心跳加速，在漫长的一天后感到疲倦，或者在寒冷时发抖。
- 不同系统的意识有所不同：您可能很容易注意到自己的心跳，但很难感觉到饥饿、温度变化或呼吸。
- 功能：内部身体信号塑造了我们体验和调节感受的方式，例如通过心跳加速识别焦虑或通过稳定呼吸识别平静。
- 原因：创伤、压力、心理健康状况，甚至文化习惯都会影响您注意到和解释身体信号的清晰程度。
- 训练：正念、身体扫描和瑜伽等练习可以增强内感受意识，有助于重新训练大脑更准确地注意到和解释身体信号。
示例
内感受并不是什么罕见的、抽象的过程——它以无数的方式融入到日常生活中。
以下是信号的主要类别，以及展示身体如何与大脑对话的常见示例：
生理状态
- 饥饿和口渴：空腹的痛苦感觉，或促使你喝水的口干舌燥的感觉。忽视这些信号可能会导致烦躁，有时被称为“饥饿”。
- 心率和呼吸：注意爬楼梯后脉搏跳动，或焦虑时呼吸困难的感觉。这些相同的信号在运动时会让人感到精力充沛，但在安静的房间里却会让人感到震惊。
- 体温：在寒冷的早晨发抖，在炎热的天气出汗，或在情绪激动时感到鸡皮疙瘩。
- 疼痛和不适：胃痛、经痛、锻炼后肌肉酸痛或隐隐作痛的头痛。疼痛是最清晰的内感受警报之一。
- 膀胱和肠道扩张：膀胱充盈的压力、大餐后的腹胀或消化后的缓解。
情绪和认知状态
- 胃里的蝴蝶：大型演讲或第一次约会之前的一种颤动的感觉，反映了焦虑和兴奋在体内如何重叠。
- 喉咙里有肿块：悲伤、悲伤或想哭的冲动可能会导致喉咙发紧。
- 肌肉紧张：压力时下巴紧绷或肩膀僵硬，放松时会感到放松。
- 出汗和干燥：面试时手掌潮湿或公开演讲前口干。
- 直觉：对某件事是对还是错的直觉“感觉”，通常由微妙的消化或内脏信号引导。
- 情绪和精力水平：一夜睡眠不足后感觉萎靡不振，摄入过多咖啡因后感到紧张，或缓慢呼气后感到平静。
额外的身体信号
- 心悸：感觉到心脏跳动、扑动或剧烈跳动，这可能是良性的，也可能会引发焦虑，具体取决于具体情况。
- 恶心和肠道搅动：晕动病引起的恶心，或吃变质食物后的呕吐冲动。
- 血糖下降：颤抖、思维模糊或突然烦躁，吃东西后就会消失。
- 空气饥饿：深呼吸或叹气的冲动，尤其是在有压力时或屏住呼吸后。
- 头晕和头晕：起身过快时会出现短暂的头晕，这是由血压变化引起的。
- 发痒并急于抓挠：需要注意的蚊虫叮咬或过敏反应。
- 月经暗示：骨盆痉挛、沉重或周期性压痛是生殖节律的一部分。
为什么这很重要？
内感受不仅仅是一个背景生理过程。
它是我们心理生活的基石，形成我们情绪的原材料，塑造我们的自我意识，并提供我们有意识地调节我们的内部世界和驾驭我们的关系所需的基本信息。
情绪和心理健康
我们的内部身体状态和情绪之间的关系是基础性的。情绪不仅仅是抽象的心理事件；它们是由我们的大脑对生理信号的解释而产生的深刻体现的体验。
- 身体信号变成感觉。心跳加速可能意味着您在考试前感到焦虑，或者在第一次约会前感到兴奋。上下文和解释很重要。
- 焦虑和恐慌。有些人会注意到身体的每一个微小变化——比如心跳加快或呼吸加快——这种高度的敏感度可能会引发担忧。
- 创伤。创伤经历常常让人与自己的身体脱节。重新学习感知呼吸等信号有助于恢复安全和控制。
- 影响力和粒度。在情绪被命名之前，身体会产生一种总体的感觉基调——愉快或不愉快、平静或兴奋。能够精确地识别和标记这些感觉（有时称为情绪粒度）有助于我们更有效地管理它们。
- 自我监管。通过调整内部线索，我们可以学习诸如放慢呼吸以平静神经系统之类的技能，这对于控制压力或恐慌发作非常有用。
自我意识和身心联系
内感受是自我意识的基础。它连接大脑和身体，让我们不仅能注意到我们的想法，还能注意到我们的感受。这个过程塑造了我们的身份、自我反思的能力以及对我们是谁的理解。
- 体现的自我。我们最基本的“我”意识来自于内感受。大脑不断整合来自身体的信号，以创造出活着和存在的感觉。内感受给我们一种具体的感觉：“我在这里，在这个身体里，在这一刻。没有这个，我们的身份就会感到空虚或支离破碎。”
- 真实性和反思性。与内部信号保持联系可以让我们区分自己的需求和外部压力。这巩固了真实性——按照我们的价值观生活——并支持自我反思、观察我们的模式并从中学习的能力。
- 分心和断开。在一个不断受到刺激的世界中，许多人失去了这些内在线索的联系。即使花很短的时间来“检查”身体也可以恢复基础和清晰度。
调节与日常生活
情绪调节是管理和调节我们情绪体验的能力。这种能力与我们准确感知和解释内部身体信号的能力密切相关。
- 身体作为调节工具。因为情绪存在于身体之中，身体也是恢复平衡的途径。缓慢呼吸、瑜伽或姿势变换等技巧可以通过激活迷走神经来平静神经系统，从而帮助我们从压力中转移到安全的状态。
- 首先是意识，然后是控制。你无法调节你没有注意到的情绪。内感受意识使我们能够在早期预警信号——胸闷、烦躁情绪加剧——变得不堪重负之前捕捉到它们。
- 与他人共同监管。人类生来就需要共同监管。婴儿在护理人员的怀抱中平静下来；成年人也可以从值得信赖、稳定的人那里借用监管。治疗、人际关系和社区都可以增强这种能力。
- 日常运作。内感受指导简单但重要的行为：饿时吃东西，累时休息，渴时喝水。锻炼可以训练我们注意和管理心率、呼吸和能量的变化，从而进一步提高这些技能。
如何练习和改进内感？
好消息是内感受意识不是固定的——它可以被训练和加强。
改善内感受就是从无意识地受身体反应驱动，转变为成为内心景观的好奇、积极的观察者。
通过坚持不懈的练习——无论是通过正念、呼吸、躯体意识还是生活方式护理——你可以学会更仔细地倾听身体的信号。
这不仅支持情绪调节，还可以增强韧性、存在感和更深层次的自我意识。
1. 正念与冥想
正念也许是建立内感受技能最直接、也是研究最多的方法。
它被定义为“有目的地、在当下、不加判断地关注”。
正念不仅仅是一种放松工具，它还通过神经可塑性从物理上重塑大脑，强化岛叶和前扣带皮层等对身体意识至关重要的区域。
工作原理：
通过反复将注意力转向内部——呼吸、身体感觉和情绪——你可以训练大脑注意到微妙的内部线索。
这会在触发和反应之间产生暂停，支持自我调节。
实践举例：
- 身体扫描冥想：从头到脚系统地移动意识，注意刺痛、紧绷或静止等感觉。
- 正念呼吸：将注意力集中在呼吸的身体感觉上，帮助调节压力并平静神经系统。
- 正念运动（例如瑜伽）：结合姿势、呼吸和意识，将身体信号与情绪和精神状态联系起来。
2.呼吸法
呼吸是独特的：它是自动发生的，但我们也可以控制它。这使得它成为我们内感受系统的直接门户。
工作原理：
不同的呼吸模式会影响自主神经系统。
缓慢的膈式呼吸和长时间的呼气会激活副交感系统（“休息和消化”），而更快的、以吸气为主的呼吸会刺激交感系统（“战斗或逃跑”）。
实践举例：
- 横膈膜呼吸：深深地呼吸到腹部而不是胸部。
- 盒式呼吸：吸气4次，屏住4次，呼气4次，屏住4次。
- 生理叹息：通过鼻子快速吸气两次，然后通过嘴长长地呼气——显示可以快速减轻压力。
- 鼻孔交替呼吸：一种平衡觉醒和注意力的瑜伽技巧。
3. 躯体和身体导向的练习
这些方法强调身体本身——“躯体”——作为治愈和整合的途径。
工作原理：
通过刻意关注姿势、运动和感觉，您可以处理和释放存储在神经系统中的压力。
这会恢复安全感和存在感。
实践举例：
- 接地：注意脚在地板上或支撑你的椅子上的感觉。
- 创伤释放练习(TRE)：引发自然震动以释放压力的运动。
- 自我安抚手势：将手放在心脏上、拥抱自己或轻轻抚摸——所有这些都可以平静神经系统。
4. 生活方式和自我保健
训练内感受并不仅限于冥想垫或治疗室，它还取决于您的日常生活方式。
工作原理：
健康的日常习惯支持产生内感受信号的大脑和身体系统。
线粒体——细胞内的微小“发电厂”——发挥着关键作用，为身体和大脑之间的准确信号传递提供能量。
实践举例：
- 锻炼：有规律的运动可以增强情绪、恢复力，并练习解释觉醒（例如，运动期间心跳加快是安全的，不会造成威胁）。
- 营养和睡眠：均衡的食物和充足的休息可以减少系统中的“噪音”，帮助内感受信号更加清晰。
- 日记：反思性写作有助于将事件与内部反应联系起来，增强自我意识。
临床相关性
内感受科学正在重塑我们对心理健康的理解。
研究人员不再将状况纯粹视为症状的集合，而是越来越多地将它们视为身体-大脑反馈循环的破坏。
当大脑难以准确感知、解释和调节身体的内部信号时，结果可能是焦虑、抑郁、饮食失调或自闭症和多动症中出现的困难。
简而言之：功能失调的内感受正在成为许多条件下的共同线索。
焦虑、恐慌和创伤后应激障碍
焦虑是内感受出现问题的最明显的例子之一。
- 误解信号。当大脑错误地将无害的身体变化（例如心跳加快）视为危险迹象时，惊恐发作可能会“突然”发生。
- 高度警惕。许多焦虑的人过度适应呼吸或胃部感觉的微妙变化，这会加剧担忧和回避。
- 创伤和创伤后应激障碍。创伤会破坏大脑的预测模型，使身体始终处于警觉状态，或者相反，与感觉脱节。创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）通常被描述为“身体脱离障碍”。治疗通常侧重于帮助人们安全地重新接触呼吸和心跳等身体信号。
- 代谢压力。慢性压力通过破坏皮质醇和血糖调节来改变新陈代谢。这些变化反馈到身体中，放大了我们认为是焦虑的生理状态。
沮丧
人们越来越多地从生理和代谢的角度来看待抑郁症，而不是简单的“化学失衡”。
- 大脑能量问题。持续的抑郁症可能反映了脑细胞中的线粒体或代谢功能障碍，使人精疲力竭、疲劳且无法体验快乐。
- 内感受迟钝。研究表明，抑郁症患者常常难以准确感知心跳等内部信号，从而导致他们所描述的麻木和脱节。
- 炎症和“疾病行为”。抑郁症与身体的炎症反应有共同的特征：精力不足、退缩和失去动力。肥胖和糖尿病等会破坏新陈代谢的疾病也会增加抑郁风险，形成恶性循环。
- 情绪调节。由于情绪是由身体信号建立的，处理这些信号的困难会导致抑郁症中出现持续的负面状态。
饮食失调
饮食失调揭示了与内部信号失去联系的后果。
- 饥饿与饱足混淆。患有厌食症或贪食症的人通常很难感知自己何时饥饿或饱了。研究还发现心跳感知任务的准确性降低。
- 述情障碍。许多人很难识别或描述他们的情绪。这种“缺乏言语表达感受”与内感受敏感性差密切相关。
- 适应不良的应对方式。当无法直接理解内部线索时，限制、暴饮暴食和净化通常是为了控制压倒性的情绪或身体状态。
自闭症和多动症
内感受还为神经发育状况提供了新的见解。
- 自闭症。虽然自闭症本身并不是由内感受缺陷来定义，但许多自闭症患者同时患有述情障碍，这会影响情绪识别和同理心。内感受差异也可以解释自闭症患者疼痛感知的改变和频繁的胃肠道症状。
- 多动症。多动症患者的自我调节困难可能涉及与身体暗示的脱节，有时与早期的压力或创伤有关。从生理角度来看，多动症还与其他心理健康状况中发现的相同代谢和线粒体破坏有关。这将其重新定义为更广泛的脑体调节问题的一部分。
审稿人作者
心理学（荣誉）理学学士、教育心理学理学硕士
《简单心理学》副主编
奥利维亚·盖伊·埃文斯 (Olivia Guy-Evans) 是《Simply Psychology》的作家兼副编辑，她在其中提供有关心理学主题的易懂内容。她也是伯明翰大学的一名自闭症博士生，研究高等教育中的自闭症伪装。