What is a Weighted Blanket?
Weighted blankets, also known as gravity blankets, feel like getting a giant hug while you’re sleeping at night. However, they do much more than keep cozy.
Compared to your average blanket, weighted blankets produce a calming effect to potentially improve the symptoms of various conditions. For example, a weighted blanket can help with ADHD, insomnia, and autism.
Occupational therapists have used weighted blankets in therapy for ages. However, they’ve become increasingly popular for everyday individuals looking to improve their sleep. Both children and adults can use weighted blankets to make getting to and staying asleep much easier.
How Do Weighted Blankets Work?
Weighted blankets are a form of throw blankets. They come in two forms, knitted or duvet. Knitted weighted blankets feature a dense yarn, while duvet weighted blankets are filled with heavy materials, such as discs, glass beads, or plastic pellets.
The blankets can weigh anywhere from 3 to over 25 pounds. However, it shouldn’t feel overly constricting or hot. The right blanket size and weight of the blanket will depend on a person’s:
Age
Body weight
Sleeping position
With this in mind, no toddlers or kids under 2 years old should use a weighted blanket.
Weighted blankets are commonly used for patients in occupational or sensory integration therapy to mimic the sensation of deep touch pressure (DTP) therapy. Deep pressure stimulation relaxes the central nervous system and releases
serotonin
and oxytocin. These neurotransmitters lead to a calm feeling overall.
Benefits of Weighted Blankets
What-is-a-Weighted-Blanket
Since weighted blankets mimic deep pressure therapy, they offer similar benefits. These benefits primarily affect your sleep and mental health. Weighted blankets provide a non-intrusive, non-medicinal solution to improving your comfort at night by:
Soothing anxiety
Cradling your body
Raising your melatonin levels
Has a “Hug-Like” Feel
When hugging another person, the body releases
oxytocin.
This hormone lowers blood pressure and heart rate, promoting relaxation.
Babies commonly relax and respond well to being swaddled because it releases oxytocin the way being hugged or cuddled does. As an adult, a weighted blanket can recreate this swaddled, “hug-like” sensation.
Soothes Stress and Anxiety
Experiencing some level of stress and anxiety is normal for us. However, it is draining and eventually negatively impacts our mental, emotional, and physical health if not addressed. Sleeping with a weighted blanket can ease the autonomic nervous system—which affects the body’s basic functions and also triggers the body’s fight or flight response.
Improves Sleep Quality
Tossing and turning, late-night anxiety, and overall discomfort is bound to happen to all of us at some point. All of these can affect your sleep latency and duration. If you’re constantly struggling to get restful sleep at night, you may want to try a weighted blanket.
Studies on insomnia find using weighted blankets limits movement, in turn inducing sleep. Not only that, but the deep pressure stimulation from a weighted blanket triggers melatonin production. Melatonin is the hormone known for causing sleepiness and regulating the body’s
circadian-rhythm.
Boosts Mood
One of the great parts of using a weighted blanket is it can help improve your mood. Using a weighted blanket stimulates serotonin and oxytocin production. Paired with decreased
cortisol (the stress hormone) production,
using a weighted blanket can make you feel more upbeat and improve your overall well-being.
Calms Individuals With ADHD
It’s common for people with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
to struggle with:
Lack of focus
Poor self-control
Restlessness
Impulsivity
One study found that when wearing weighted vests, people with ADHD were able to complete and focus on tasks better. Similarly, the deep pressure stimulation from using a weighted blanket
reduces sleep onset latency
significantly, improving the person’s attention span and focus during the day.
May Foster Sleep For People With Autism
Some individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may struggle with anxiety and stress, along with sensory issues that make it difficult to feel comfortable.
Touch therapy
is shown to be beneficial for people with ASD as it soothes anxiety and muscle spasms. Sleeping with a weighted blanket mimics the sensation of touch therapy, thus producing similar benefits.
