This holiday season feels weird to me.

I've been trying to figure out why, but I'm still not really sure!

A lot of people may feel bad at a certain time, or in a certain place, and not really know what's going on.

In some cases, it's due to the process of interoception which is one of my very favorite concepts to explain to patients!!

This is where the body is taking in all the data it gets from the environment outside AND internally and then decides what to do next.

In the context of this video it's related to trauma, which is something a lot of the people we work with are trying to manage (especially at this time of year).

Sometimes our bodies have made note of something that we're unaware of but we can respond as if something bad is about to happen without knowing why!

But the brain knows.

This is a video taken from my PTSD CEU course that I shared over the summer.

The part specifically addressing interoception starts around 2:45 if you want to skip straight there. Afterwards I talk a little about the DMN too (I LOVE the default mode network but sometimes it causes some serious havoc!)

But since I'm specifically focused on interoception today here are some quick take-aways:

• Interoception helps the brain integrate data from different systems, including cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and immune systems, plus other external data, to make decisions about all sorts of stuff: hunger, thirst, heart rate, breathing, even fear!
• Interoceptive signals often travel along the vagus nerve to the insular cortex which integrates physiological sensations, emotions, and social experiences
• Some bodies and brains are better at interpreting these signals (for example athletes or people who meditate a lot) and others may struggle more (like those on the autism spectrum or with high anxiety)
• The DMN interacts with interoceptive processing to regulate emotions and influence self-awareness and our inner experience
• Mindfulness work, body scanning, and yoga improve interoceptive awareness, which can help with emotional and physical health
• This also may be part of our intuition or "gut reaction" to something! The gut-brain axis, which relies on a lot of info from the microbiome, plays a significant role in interoception

If you're curious and want to get yourself a cool course on interoception I recently watched this and highly recommend it! (And I think it's on sale until the end of the year through BCIA the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance!)

I don't think my holiday feels weird because of the messages in my brain (at least not like I describe here!) but it's a reminder to take a step back and look at the bigger picture to try to see what's going on.

I should probably just go bake some holiday cookies!

​Jumbo Chocolate-Cherry-Oat Cookies are about to become my new fav! Although there's some strong competition with grandma's molasses crinkles...

Cheers to healthy brains,

Dr. B

Jessica Beachkofsky, MD

Your friendly, online psychiatrist!

P.S. The past 2 weeks I talked about perimenopause and supplements. This past week I've been taking a "Food as Medicine" course from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine where I learned my recommended list also needs to have B12 supplements in the form of cyanocobalamin, especially for women!

P.P.S. Although I may pop in to say hi over the next 2 weeks, I won't be sending a lot of content. I'm not sure if you need a little break Reader, but I know it'll do me good. Happy Holidays!