The Next Steps in Research on the Link Between Interoception and Mental Health

Abstract

Interoception is the process by which organisms sense, interpret, and integrate signals from the organism’s state. Interest in this process has grown recently due to the links between alterations in interoceptive processes and different mental health disorders. The next steps in research include new ways of measuring people’s levels of interoception, as current measurement tools are flawed. However, this essay will argue that understanding what level of the interoceptive process is faulty in specific mental health disorders is more important. It would allow the design of targetted interventions and generate measurement tools for each process level.