Interoception: What It Is, Signs Of Interoception Difficulties and How To Support Your Body’s Signals
Most of us are taught about five senses at school: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. In reality, humans have several more, including one that does a huge amount of quiet work in the background.
Interoception is the sense that helps you notice and interpret internal signals from your body, such as hunger, thirst, needing the toilet, your heartbeat, breathing, temperature and pain. It is how your brain keeps track of what is going on inside you.
For many autistic and ADHD people, and for a lot of chronically ill and traumatised folks, interoception can be patchy, delayed or overwhelming. That can affect everything from eating and sleep to emotional regulation and burnout.
In this guide I will cover:
What interoception is, in everyday language
How interoception difficulties can show up in real life
Links between interoception, autism, ADHD and chronic stress
Gentle self help ideas to get curious about your body’s signals
How to support someone who finds interoception hard
When it might be helpful to seek extra support
At the end, there is a clear next step if you would like tailored, neurodiversity affirming support with this.
What is interoception?
Interoception is your internal sensing system. It gathers information from inside the body and sends it to the brain. Examples include:
Your heartbeat and breathing rate
Temperature, sweating and shivering
Hunger and fullness
Thirst
Needing the toilet
Nausea and gut feelings
Pain and discomfort
Your brain uses these signals to answer questions like:
Am I hungry or full
Do I need a drink
Am I too hot or too cold
Am I safe or in danger
Am I tired, anxious, excited, overwhelmed
When interoception works smoothly enough, you might not notice it at all. You simply feel hungry and go to eat, or notice you are cold and reach for a jumper.
When interoception is patchy, delayed, too quiet or too loud, those messages can get missed, scrambled or turned up too high.
As neurodivergent folks, we often forget to drink or step outside, and sometimes just hydrating and being outside can make us feel so much better!
What do interoception difficulties look like?
Interoception differences can show up in lots of ways. You might recognise yourself in some of these examples.
Basic body needs
Forgetting to eat and drink until you feel shaky, sick or have a headache
Not noticing that you need the toilet until it feels extremely urgent
Struggling to notice early signs of illness until you are very unwell
Only realising how exhausted you are when you completely crash
Emotions and “gut feelings”
Interoception is also linked to emotional awareness. Many people with interoception difficulties say things like:
“I do not know what I feel until I explode or shut down”
“I only notice I was anxious afterwards, when I get a migraine or stomach ache”
“I get told I am overreacting, but I only notice I am stressed at 100 per cent”
If your brain struggles to read internal signals, it can be harder to name emotions, to notice early signs of stress and to choose regulation strategies that actually help.
Pain and comfort
High pain tolerance, or not noticing pain until it is severe
The opposite, where pain feels huge and overwhelming very quickly
Difficulty judging temperature, leading to being over or under dressed
Not noticing hunger versus nausea versus anxiety, because they all feel the same in your body
None of these are a personal failing. They are differences in how your nervous system is wired and how it has adapted over time.
Interoception, autism, ADHD and chronic illness
Research and lived experience both suggest strong links between interoception differences and:
Autism
ADHD and AuDHD
Anxiety and trauma histories
Chronic pain and chronic fatigue conditions
Many autistic and ADHD adults discover interoception when they start reading about why they miss hunger, struggle with toileting cues or feel blindsided by their own meltdowns and shutdowns.
If you grew up being told you were “too sensitive” or “not sensitive enough”, or were punished for toileting accidents, melt downs or “overreactions”, your nervous system may also have learned to tune out body signals to keep you safe.
How to spot possible signs of poor interoception in yourself
You do not need a formal assessment to start being curious about interoception. Here are some questions to reflect on:
Do I regularly forget to eat, drink or use the toilet until it feels urgent or overwhelming
Do I go from “fine” to “absolutely done” with no warning
Do I find it hard to notice when I start to feel anxious, overstimulated or in pain
Do I often notice physical symptoms first, such as headaches, stomach pain, nausea or exhaustion, before I realise I am stressed
Do I find it confusing to tell the difference between feelings, for example hunger and anxiety, tiredness and sadness
You do not need to tick every box. Even a few of these patterns can point towards interoception difficulties being part of your picture.
Gentle ways to get curious about your body’s signals
The goal is not to force yourself into perfect body awareness. It is to build a kinder, more curious relationship with your internal world.
Start very small and keep anything you try flexible and optional.
1. Pause and check in a few times a day
Set a reminder on your phone two or three times a day with simple prompts, such as:
How is my stomach right now (empty, full, neutral, uncomfortable)
Do I need water, food, the toilet or rest
How is my breathing (shallow, held, steady)
What is my temperature like (comfortable, too hot, too cold)
At first, you might not know the answers. That is completely fine. The practice is in asking the questions and noticing anything that does show up.
2. Use rating scales and visuals
Interoception can be easier to explore with visual aids. You can experiment with:
A simple 0 to 10 scale for hunger, thirst, tiredness or pain
Colour codes, for example green for “comfortable”, amber for “starting to struggle”, red for “too much”
Body outline drawings where you colour or scribble the places that feel tense, numb, buzzy, heavy or sore
These tools are particularly helpful if you are word based or if you support children and young people.
3. Pair external cues with internal checks
Because interoception is unreliable for many ND people, external structure can be very supportive. For example:
Linking toileting to regular points in the day, such as before leaving the house, before sessions or before bed
Having set “anchor points” for snacks and drinks, even if you are not sure if you are hungry
Using environmental cues like low light or the time on the clock to check in with tiredness
The aim is not to ignore your body, but to give your body more chances to have a say.
4. Make it sensory gentle
If you are already easily overwhelmed, interoception work needs to feel as safe and low pressure as possible. You might try:
Checking in while somewhere comfortable, such as on the sofa, in bed or in nature
Keeping sessions short, for example one or two minutes
Stopping as soon as you feel flooded, spaced out or distressed, and doing something soothing instead
You are allowed to move at the pace your nervous system can tolerate.
Just taking a moment to close your eyes, tune in with your body and see how you're feeling can make all the difference.
Supporting someone who finds interoception hard
If you are a partner, parent, friend or professional, you cannot “fix” someone’s interoception. You can, however, make their life easier.
Helpful approaches include:
Believing their experience, even if it does not match your own
Offering external prompts for food, drink, rest and toileting in a non patronising way
Helping them build routines that reduce decision fatigue, such as regular snack times or rest periods
Being patient when plans need to change because their body has suddenly “crashed”
Try questions like:
“Would a drink help right now”
“When did you last eat, do you want me to get something”
“Do you fancy a toilet stop before we go”
Avoid shaming language such as “you should know that by now” or “how can you not tell you are hungry”.
When to seek extra support
Interoception difficulties can contribute to:
Eating issues, including ARFID and disordered eating
Sleep problems
Chronic pain and fatigue
Anxiety, panic and emotional overwhelm
If you notice that missing body signals is having a significant impact on your health, work or relationships, it can be worth talking to:
Your GP
A therapist or psychologist with experience in autism, ADHD or trauma
An occupational therapist who works with sensory processing and interoception
A coach who understands neurodivergent nervous systems and chronic illness
There is no one size fits all approach, but you do not have to figure it out alone.
You are not “lazy” or “dramatic” if interoception is hard
Many of us grew up being punished or mocked for toileting accidents, forgetting to drink, “overreacting” or ignoring pain. If your interoception is different, it makes complete sense that your brain learned to dial things down or switch them off to protect you.
You are not lazy, weak or failing if you miss your body’s signals. You are living with a nervous system that has had to work extra hard, often in environments that did not understand you.
It is absolutely valid to want more ease, more safety and more choice in how you respond to your body.
Want support to work with interoception in a neurodivergent friendly way?
If you recognise yourself in this article and you would like support that does not shame you for missing body cues, I offer coaching for neurodivergent and chronically ill adults who are navigating issues like interoception, ARFID, burnout and everyday life with a sensitive nervous system.
Together we can:
Map your current patterns around hunger, thirst, energy, rest and overwhelm
Explore gentle, realistic ways to build in body check-ins that fit your actual life
Create practical scaffolding such as routines, scripts and planning that reduce decision fatigue
Support you to advocate for your needs with healthcare, work and the people around you
If you would like to explore whether working together is right for you, you can book a discovery session with me. We will talk through what is going on for you, what you are hoping for, and whether my approach feels like a good fit, with no pressure to commit.
Please Note:
This website is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition before making changes. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
