Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in context
Summary: Background: Interoception—sensation, interpretation, and prediction of bodily signals—is reliably disrupted across a wide range of mental health conditions. A growing body of evidence suggests that interoception is a putative mechanism, or ‘active ingredient’, of effective psychological an...
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Elsevier
2025-04-01
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| Series: | EClinicalMedicine |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537025001154 |
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| author | Lydia J. Hickman Gabriel Mackie Beth F. Longley Hannah S. Savage Emily Bagley Hugo Fleming Rachel Knight Isabel Lau Annalise Whines Sarah N. Garfinkel Camilla L. Nord |
| author_facet | Lydia J. Hickman Gabriel Mackie Beth F. Longley Hannah S. Savage Emily Bagley Hugo Fleming Rachel Knight Isabel Lau Annalise Whines Sarah N. Garfinkel Camilla L. Nord |
| author_sort | Lydia J. Hickman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Background: Interoception—sensation, interpretation, and prediction of bodily signals—is reliably disrupted across a wide range of mental health conditions. A growing body of evidence suggests that interoception is a putative mechanism, or ‘active ingredient’, of effective psychological and pharmacological treatments. Anecdotally, patients with psychiatric disorders report differences in bodily experiences. However, formal priority setting by people with lived experience of mental health conditions has so far been overlooked in this rapidly expanding research area. Methods: This article takes a mixed-methods approach to investigate experiences of bodily signals in individuals with mental health conditions and determine patients' research priorities. We recruited two UK samples in the context of an in-person workshop (N = 25) and online (N = 47), between April and July 2024. All contributors had a diagnosis of at least one mental health condition. Using a combination of written contributions and small group discussions, we explored the most relevant bodily sensations for patients’ mental health, how bodily sensations were experienced by patients, and which research priorities were considered most important. Findings: Patients’ contributions emphasised the multimodal nature of interoception, in particular the importance of less frequently studied modalities such as the stomach and muscle tension, as well as the need to consider the causes and consequences of distressing bodily sensations. We summarise ten key research priorities for patients, spanning three themes: causes, management, and clinical/research approach to interoception in mental health. These priorities include investigating the impact of bodily signals on social contexts, techniques to manage distressing signals, and a shift of approach towards integrating mental and physical health in clinical/research settings. Interpretation: Together, this broad scoping study establishes new, transdiagnostic, patient-led priorities for the developing field of interoception in psychiatry to ensure future research focusses on the areas of greatest impact for people with mental health conditions. Funding: This work was supported by a Wellcome Mental Health award to C.L.N. and S.G. (226778/Z/22/Z), intramural funding from the UK Medical Research Council (MC/UU/00030/12), and a Wellcome Career Development Award to C.L.N. (226490/Z/22/Z). G.M. is funded by an ESRC DTP Studentship (RG84395). This research was also supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC-1215-20014). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fe684510467a4e4aa4a5a2ea59c7a8bf |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2589-5370 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | EClinicalMedicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-fe684510467a4e4aa4a5a2ea59c7a8bf2025-08-20T02:54:39ZengElsevierEClinicalMedicine2589-53702025-04-018210318310.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103183Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in contextLydia J. Hickman0Gabriel Mackie1Beth F. Longley2Hannah S. Savage3Emily Bagley4Hugo Fleming5Rachel Knight6Isabel Lau7Annalise Whines8Sarah N. Garfinkel9Camilla L. Nord10MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK; Corresponding author. MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK.MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UKInsitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UKInsitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UKMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UKMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UKMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, University College London, UKMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK; Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, University of Oxford, UKMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UKInsitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UKMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UKSummary: Background: Interoception—sensation, interpretation, and prediction of bodily signals—is reliably disrupted across a wide range of mental health conditions. A growing body of evidence suggests that interoception is a putative mechanism, or ‘active ingredient’, of effective psychological and pharmacological treatments. Anecdotally, patients with psychiatric disorders report differences in bodily experiences. However, formal priority setting by people with lived experience of mental health conditions has so far been overlooked in this rapidly expanding research area. Methods: This article takes a mixed-methods approach to investigate experiences of bodily signals in individuals with mental health conditions and determine patients' research priorities. We recruited two UK samples in the context of an in-person workshop (N = 25) and online (N = 47), between April and July 2024. All contributors had a diagnosis of at least one mental health condition. Using a combination of written contributions and small group discussions, we explored the most relevant bodily sensations for patients’ mental health, how bodily sensations were experienced by patients, and which research priorities were considered most important. Findings: Patients’ contributions emphasised the multimodal nature of interoception, in particular the importance of less frequently studied modalities such as the stomach and muscle tension, as well as the need to consider the causes and consequences of distressing bodily sensations. We summarise ten key research priorities for patients, spanning three themes: causes, management, and clinical/research approach to interoception in mental health. These priorities include investigating the impact of bodily signals on social contexts, techniques to manage distressing signals, and a shift of approach towards integrating mental and physical health in clinical/research settings. Interpretation: Together, this broad scoping study establishes new, transdiagnostic, patient-led priorities for the developing field of interoception in psychiatry to ensure future research focusses on the areas of greatest impact for people with mental health conditions. Funding: This work was supported by a Wellcome Mental Health award to C.L.N. and S.G. (226778/Z/22/Z), intramural funding from the UK Medical Research Council (MC/UU/00030/12), and a Wellcome Career Development Award to C.L.N. (226490/Z/22/Z). G.M. is funded by an ESRC DTP Studentship (RG84395). This research was also supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC-1215-20014).http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537025001154PsychiatryMental healthInteroceptionLived-experiencePatient priorities |
| spellingShingle | Lydia J. Hickman Gabriel Mackie Beth F. Longley Hannah S. Savage Emily Bagley Hugo Fleming Rachel Knight Isabel Lau Annalise Whines Sarah N. Garfinkel Camilla L. Nord Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in context EClinicalMedicine Psychiatry Mental health Interoception Lived-experience Patient priorities |
| title | Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in context |
| title_full | Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in context |
| title_fullStr | Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in context |
| title_full_unstemmed | Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in context |
| title_short | Breaking through the mind-body divide: patient priorities for interoception researchResearch in context |
| title_sort | breaking through the mind body divide patient priorities for interoception researchresearch in context |
| topic | Psychiatry Mental health Interoception Lived-experience Patient priorities |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537025001154 |
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