Therapy Blankets Help Lift Your Mood And Improve Your Sleep Quality… Here’s How
It’s 2 a.m., and you’re still wide awake. You’ve been tossing and turning for hours but still can’t get to sleep. Maybe you’re stressed out, anxious, or worried about another long day at work. Maybe you’re going through a heartbreak. You know you are feeling down and just can’t seem to get out of it, and it’s affecting your sleep and your mood. If the usual tricks don’t work, such as a warm bath, soothing music, essential oils, there’s one more thing you should try – a therapy blanket.
What Is A Therapy Blanket?
A therapy blanket is a weighted blanket that is used as a natural way to ease stress and anxiety. It gives you the feeling of being ‘wrapped,’ providing you with a sense of security and comfort. The pressure from the therapy blanket recreates a hug, so like a blanket-wrapped baby, you calm down. Therapy blankets were originally used for people with autism as part of occupational therapy, but their uses have expanded over the years.
The Benefits of a Therapy Blanket
The next time you’re feeling cranky or lonely, go put on a therapy blanket for an immediate mood boost. Here are some of the benefits of using a therapy blanket:
- It Helps You Sleep
You know that lack of sleep can make you feel irritated the next day. A therapy blanket stimulates the production of serotonin, which, in turn, helps to release melatonin. You need melatonin for proper sleep regulation and a night of restorative sleep.
- It Helps Reduce Anxiety
The evenly distributed weight on a therapy blanket allows it to provide deep but even pressure to the body, which gives the calming effect. It then helps release serotonin and dopamine, the happy hormones that reduce anxiety and stress.
- It Eases Symptoms Of Sensory Processing Disorder
Sometimes it feels like your brain is jammed, and you can’t verbalize your feelings. That’s a sensory processing disorder. Therapy blankets have shown to be useful in calming you and reducing your anxiety, which is a common symptom of the disorder.
- It Beats Insomnia
It’s hard to deal with insomnia, especially when you know you badly need sleep. No wonder you’re always bad-tempered the next day! A therapy blanket can help you get those coveted Z’s with deep pressure stimulation that calms down your senses.
- It Relieves Pain
Pain is a major mood-sucker. A therapy blanket could be just the thing you need to reduce pain without relying on too many medications. The pressure grounds the body during sleep, which regulates the levels of cortisol hormones that are responsible for keeping your body on high alert.
- It Helps Manage PSTD Symptoms
Dealing with something traumatic is never easy and can trigger chronic stress and anxiety. A weighted blanket can provide you with a therapeutic feeling by improving your blood pressure and pulse rate. It makes you feel less anxious and soothes panic attacks.
Other conditions that can benefit from therapy blankets are fibromyalgia, restless legs, dementia, and depression.
How To Choose A Therapy Blanket
A therapy blanket is often made of cotton fabrics or cotton blends, with square patterns filled with plastic pellets that provide the weight. They are evenly distributed to ensure equal pressure touch. Therapy blankets can be found in various designs to suit your individual taste.
Therapy blankets come in a range of sizes and weights, so you should make your selection depending on preferences and who’s going to be using it. You can find therapy blankets that weigh between 5 to 25 pounds. Your doctor will be able to recommend the right blanket for you based on your age, size, height, and body weight. They should not be used by children below 2 years old because they can restrict their breathing. Children might not be able to move the blanket on their own, which is dangerous.
If you have other medical conditions, you might not be allowed to use a therapy blanket. These include unregulated blood pressure, diabetes, fragile skin, asthma, breathing problems, skin rashes, and open wounds.
A therapy blanket is a useful therapeutic tool that brings you a sense of security and comfort. It calms you down, so you feel less anxious and stressed out. That calming effects help you get quality sleep at night which is important in lifting your mood the next day!
Try one now and see what a positive difference it can make in the quality of your sleep and your life. Some of the best quality ones are available at gravity blankets and they have lots of great information about making the right choice for you.