Angela MondorClickUp Verified Consultant, ClickUp · Operations consultant & ClickUp Verified Consultant for neurodivergent entrepreneurs

Stop Gaslighting Your Body: The Truth About Interoception & Neurodivergence #Shorts

27 May 2026 · 2 min

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1:51

In this short dialogue, Speaker B explains how neurodivergent individuals often struggle with interoception—the ability to sense internal bodily states—due to factors like hyperfocus, late diagnosis, and learned dismissal of bodily signals. They advise starting with the smallest cues: going to the toilet when the urge arises, drinking when thirsty, eating when hungry, sleeping when tired, and taking breaks when overwhelmed. Acting on these basic needs helps rebuild a healthier connection with the body. The conversation also highlights how many neurodivergent people have been taught to ignore or downplay their sensations, effectively gaslighting themselves. Speaker A reinforces the importance of working with a professional to better recognize deeper internal signals and to counteract the habits formed from late diagnosis and societal messages that such signals are unimportant.

you have for that kind of thing?
So it helps to start with noticing the smallest things and actually acting on them as well. You know, how many of us— I'm sure all of us have this thing where we want to go to the toilet, but then we don't. But let's just finish this paragraph. Let's just— and you start with this. Just go to the toilet when you want to. Have a drink when you feel that you're thirsty. Have a snack when you feel that you're hungry. Go to sleep when you start feeling tired. You know, take a break when you feel overwhelmed. Just start those with little things and start noticing them and start acting on them. And you create this better connection with your body. I don't know, maybe it sounds cliché, but that is real because a lot of neurodivergent people, we have the problems, have problems of interoception, which is the sensations from our own body. Quite a lot of neurodivergent people don't really feel the thirst until they're really thirsty, don't feel the hunger until they're really famished. Quite often it's because of the hyperfocus. Also, it's interesting. I think it's related to, 'cause a lot of us are late diagnosed and we've been hearing all our lives that, oh, this is not so loud. Oh, this is not so bright. So it might also be related to that, I think sometimes that we've learned to gaslight our own body in a way even. So it's interesting. There's lots of related things, but yeah, coming back to your question, it starts with the small things. And I very much recommend working with someone To recognize all the different signals that are deeper as well.
And I think that's really important what you said about working with someone, because you're right, part of a late diagnosis issue is we were taught, oh, that's not important, don't pay attention to that, you're not really feeling what you think you're feeling, you're overreacting. And you're right, we have programmed ourselves to ignore.