Weighted blankets can help to improve sleep in adults with insomnia and other mental health conditions including anxiety and depression | Study found the blankets were effective in improving sleep, reducing medication use and enhancing mood.

https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/improving-sleep-with-weighted-blankets

14 Comments

  1. From the article: Weighted blankets can help to improve sleep in adults with insomnia and other mental health conditions including anxiety and depression, but results are mixed for children, a new review has found.

    Led by occupational therapist and Flinders University researcher Dr Suzanne Dawson, [the study](https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2024.050676) found the blankets were effective in improving sleep, reducing medication use and enhancing mood.

    The finding has since been behind a change in state-wide protocols for weighted blanket use across public mental health services in South Australia.

    “Sleep is a basic human need and when someone isn’t getting enough, it can lead to numerous health issues as well as increase the risk of, or exacerbate, chronic conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and mental health issues,” says Dr Dawson, from Flinders University’s Caring Futures Institute.

    “In occupational therapy, weighted blankets are becoming more common amongst many ages as an assistive technology, but no current clinical guidelines exist for their use.”

  2. AllanfromWales1 on

    I suffer from sleep apnea and for me the opposite is true. The lighter the covering the better I sleep.

  3. If anything at least it wouldn’t come off of me so easily, sometimes I wake up from the chill with my blanket on the floor

  4. JustPoppinInKay on

    I think it might also have to do with a weighted blanket kinda sorta feeling like you’re being cuddled/held by something

  5. IronicAlgorithm on

    Started using them for yoga nidra. Then moved onto sleeping with them. Can’t imagine going back to ordinary duvets. Definitely help with long Covid (dysautonomia) disrupted sleep.

  6. precious_apple on

    I’ve slept poorly my entire life. In the last year, I started using a weighted blanket and melatonin, and combining several cups of chamomile tea and cannabis every evening. I actually sleep, now! A caution, however – it took a while to realize, but the weighted blanket hurts my feet! I have to remember to pull it up and put something else over them.

  7. ChasWFairbanks on

    For anyone not suffering from those conditions, weighted blankets can induce a fear of being trapped in a confined space and trigger panic attacks.

  8. mr-blister-fister on

    This is a science article with no bias from the weighted blanket industry? As someone who suffers from depression and insomnia, a weighted blanket sounds interesting. Anyone here seen improvements to their mental health and sleep while using one?