Interoception: The Internal Sense

Understanding- the '8th Sense': How your brain reads signals like hunger, thirst, heartbeat, and localizing emotions in the body.

The Voice of the Body

Interoception is the sense of the internal state of the body. While "Vision" looks out at a tree, "Interoception" looks in at your heart and stomach.

For many neurodivergent people, this system is Hypo-sensitive (too quiet) or Hyper-sensitive (too loud).

The 'Broken Gauge': If your interoception is quiet, you might:

Forget to use the bathroom until it's an emergency.

Not realize you are cold until you are shivering.

Not feel "Full," leading to overeating.

Emotional Link: Most emotions start as physical sensations (heart rate up, muscle tension). If you can't "Read" these signals, emotions seem to "Explode" out of nowhere. You aren't "Suddenly Angry"—you were actually physically stressed for 2 hours, but your brain just didn't get the message until now.