Interoception in mental disorders: from self-awareness to interventions

Abstract

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.