Interoception in mental disorders: from self-awareness to interventions

Submitted: April 17, 2024
Accepted: May 24, 2024
Published: June 18, 2024
Abstract Views: 2604
PDF: 510
Supplementary: 314
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Authors

  • Han-xue Yang School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China.
  • Han-yu Zhou Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
  • Simon S.Y. Lui Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
  • Raymond C.K. Chan rckchan@psych.ac.cn Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Interoception, the sense of the physiological condition of our body, has been proposed as a common vulnerability factor for psychopathology. Despite evidence confirming the relationship between interoception and a wide variety of clinical conditions, and multiple attempts to improve interoception in the cardiac domain, it remains debatable whether interoception can be altered through behavioural or meditative interventions. The present paper intends to review this issue and propose a theoretical framework encompassing self-awareness, interoceptive awareness, neuroplasticity, and biofeedback. We propose that a four-domain interoceptive intervention approach (cardiac, respiratory, thermal and muscular interoception) may be efficient and effective for training interoceptive abilities, which might in turn alleviate psychopathologies.

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Citations

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How to Cite

Yang, H.- xue, Zhou, H.- yu, Lui, S. S., & Chan, R. C. (2024). Interoception in mental disorders: from self-awareness to interventions. Proceedings of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, 3. https://doi.org/10.4081/peasa.32