When it’s cold outside,&nbsp;do you&nbsp;curl up under a&nbsp;pile&nbsp;of heavy&nbsp;blankets to keep warm? Could there be an added benefit to these heavy blankets?Weighted blankets&nbsp;are therapeutic blankets first used by occupational therapists to help certain groups of individuals sleep better.&nbsp;This was because the&nbsp;weighted blankets&nbsp;are proposed to mimic a technique called deep pressure stimulation or pressure therapy.&nbsp;Manufacturers suggest that the weighted blankets should be about 10% of an individual’s own body weight. Thus, they&nbsp;generally&nbsp;are between&nbsp;about&nbsp;2kg and&nbsp;13kg&nbsp;(about&nbsp;5lbs&nbsp;to 30lbs).&nbsp;To make them have this weight, they may contain plastic pellets, ball bearings,&nbsp;sand,&nbsp;or other materials. While many may lead to an individual feeling warm, some of the blankets are designed&nbsp;in order to&nbsp;be more breathable&nbsp;and thus can be used in warmer months and not just when it is colder.&nbsp;Who may benefit from a weighted blanket?One of the main areas for&nbsp;use in for those with anxiety, ADHD, depression, or bipolar disorder. One study observed that after just 4 weeks of&nbsp;use,&nbsp;individuals with insomnia and certain&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32536366/">psychiatric disorders</a>&nbsp;(major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) had improved&nbsp;sleep outcomes.&nbsp;Additionally, they may also help relieve&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34425251/">chronic pain</a>, especially in those with higher levels of anxiety.&nbsp;&nbsp;Weighted blankets&nbsp;have&nbsp;also been&nbsp;researched in&nbsp;children and adolescents&nbsp;(aged 5 to 16)&nbsp;with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7238942/">autism spectrum disorder</a>&nbsp;who have sleep difficulties.&nbsp;However, no significant benefit was observed when looking at sleep latency, nightly awakenings, or total sleep time.&nbsp;However, another study in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7823442/">two four-year-olds</a>&nbsp;with autism and sleep disturbances did find benefit from using a weight blanket. Thus, it may&nbsp;help some but not others.&nbsp;What about in adults with&nbsp;attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)&nbsp;or autism?&nbsp;Not surprisingly, it may help some&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34184958/">adults</a>&nbsp;to fall asleep and stay asleep, but not all adults may benefit.&nbsp;The&nbsp;weighted blankets&nbsp;may also help those with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7986422/">dementia</a>&nbsp;having a calming effect.Will it help in those without anxiety, ADHD, autism,&nbsp;or chronic pain?&nbsp;The research into the benefits of weighted blankets is just starting, and we don’t have the answer to this yet. However, those with anxiety or&nbsp;difficulty falling asleep may have some benefit.&nbsp;Additionally, the physiological changes&nbsp;within the body have not been elucidated, but it’s been speculated that&nbsp;their use&nbsp;may lead to changes in hormones involved in sleep regulation and the HPA axis such as cortisol.&nbsp;&nbsp;Who should not use a weighted blanket?Weighted blankets&nbsp;should not be used by young children or those with developmental disabilities as they can increase risk for suffocation.&nbsp;Not should adults who do not have the ability to&nbsp;move the head away from the blanket or lift the blanket from on top of them.&nbsp;Those with cats or dogs who like to sleep under the covers may also want to use it with precaution, or when using one have the companion animal sleep elsewhere.&nbsp;&nbsp;References:&nbsp;<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32204779/">Weighted Blanket Use: A Systematic Review.</a>&nbsp;Eron et al., 2020. Am J&nbsp;Occup&nbsp;Ther.&nbsp;</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32536366/">A randomized controlled study of weighted chain blankets for insomnia in psychiatric disorders.</a>&nbsp; Ekholm,&nbsp;Spulber, and Adler, 2020. J Clin Sleep Med.&nbsp;</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34425251/">Widespread Pressure Delivered by a Weighted Blanket Reduces Chronic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.</a>&nbsp;Baumgartner et al., 2021. J Pain.&nbsp;</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7238942/">Practice guideline: Treatment for insomnia and disrupted sleep&nbsp;behavior&nbsp;in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.</a>&nbsp;Williams Buckley et al., 2020. Neurology.&nbsp;</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7986422/">A case of effective usage of a weighted blanket for a person with severe dementia.</a>&nbsp;Nakamura and Yamauchi, 2021. Psychogeriatrics.&nbsp;</li></ul>

When it’s cold outside, do you curl up under a pile of heavy blankets to keep warm? Could there be an added benefit to these heavy blankets?

Who could benefit from weighted blankets?

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Who could benefit from weighted blankets?

Who could benefit from weighted blankets?

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