Sense it and use it: interoceptive accuracy and sensibility in suicide ideators

Background: Interoceptive deficits have been found to be associated with suicidal ideation and behavior. However, an objective measure of interoceptive accuracy has not been investigated in participants with suicide ideation, by now. This study aimed at investigating interoceptive accuracy and sensibility in persons with and without suicide ideation (SI) while controlling for severity of depressive symptoms.

Method: Ninety-five participants (age: M = 34.8, SD = 11.6, n = 56 female [58.9%]; n = 51 patients with a Major Depressive Disorder and n = 44 healthy participants) were assessed for interoceptive accuracy and sensibility, depression and SI.

Results: Twenty-five participants (26%) reported SI. They showed interoceptive accuracy comparable to persons without SI (t = -.81, p = .422), but significantly lower interoceptive sensibility. After controlling for severity of depressive symptoms in a hierarchical linear regression analysis, most associations between interoceptive sensibility and SI disappeared.

Conclusion: Results suggest that suicide ideators do not lack the ability to perceive their own bodily signals but they feel less able to use them in a way that is advantageous for them. Differences between suicide ideators and non-ideators appear to be largely driven by depressive symptoms (depression bias).