What is a weighted blanket?

A weighted blanket is a blanket that has a moderate weight.

The blanket is designed to provide moderate pressure on the body with its weight.
The gentle, enveloping sensation brings about feelings of happiness and security, helping you relax and get a good night's sleep.

When used while sleeping, it is said that wrapping yourself in a blanket that weighs approximately 10 % of your body weight can help you relax and sleep better .

Weighted blankets are also known by various names such as weighted blankets, gravity blankets, deep pressure blankets, and sensory blankets.

Weighted Blankets and Deep Touch Pressure Therapy ( DTP )

Why does weight help you sleep better and relax?

The relaxing effect of weighted blankets is due to Deep Touch Pressure Therapy ( DTP ).

Deep Touch Pressure Therapy ( DTP )
This therapy relieves stress, anxiety, and tension by applying pressure to the body.
This can be achieved through a variety of methods, including hugging, stroking, squeezing, compression, swaddling (being wrapped in a cloth) or even using special massage tools or wrapping the body around the body to apply gentle pressure.

The gentle weight of the weighted blanket, like a hug, provides just the right amount of pressure to the body, supporting a comfortable and relaxing experience even for those who tend to feel irritable or anxious.

The relationship between DTP (Deep Touch Pressure Therapy) and the autonomic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system is made up of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which work together to keep the body in balance.

When you feel stressed, your sympathetic nervous system becomes dominant and you are in a state of tension, whereas your parasympathetic nervous system becomes dominant when you are relaxed.

Excessive stress can disrupt the balance of the autonomic nervous system, resulting in physical and mental disorders, depression, insomnia, and more.

DTP calms the sympathetic nervous system, lowering the stress hormone cortisol and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

As a result, endorphins increase and the happiness hormones serotonin and melatonin are released, reducing anxiety and tension and making you feel relaxed.

This is one of the reasons why moderate weight is said to be effective in supporting relaxation .

"Hug machine"?

It is said that weighted blankets were originally developed based on the "hug machine," which was born from the research of an American zoologist named Temple Grandin .

 She has autism and noticed that the moderate pressure applied to the body, like the constricting machines used when vaccinating cows, was effective in relieving stress, anxiety and tension. She then used herself as a research subject to develop a machine that applies pressure to the body, called the Hug Machine.
This has made a significant contribution to research into weighted blankets and the use of moderate pressure stimulation (Deep Touch Therapy /DTP) for people suffering from various anxieties and worries .