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Weighted blankets are used for therapeutic reasons since long as many parents used them for calming their children suffering from sensory problems and autism. It has been proved scientifically that the DTP or Deep Touch pressure of these blankets provides a gentle feeling on the entire body by distributing its weight effectively. For these reasons weighted blankets are also known as calming blankets.
Some of the other benefits of weighted blankets may include:
Improving sleep
It has been proved through various researches that weighted blankets can improve your sleep by increasing the production of serotonin in the body. Serotonin is a chemical that can help in relaxing your body along with regulating your mood. Serotonin in turn creates another important chemical, melatonin, which informs your body about the time to sleep. Though your body also produced melatonin when you expose it to sunlight but due to various reasons its production can get affected.
So promoting the sleep is one of the most important benefits of using weighted blankets as it helps you to know when you should relax. Weighted blankets also change the nervous system of your body by calming it under its heavy weight which in turn can help in improving sleep affected by the anxiety. It also helps in reducing the condition of unrest while sleeping. It also helps in improving the condition of insomnia as the heavy weight of these blankets can provide safe, comfortable and quality sleep.
Improving performance in the classroom
It has been proved through various studies that the DTP of the weighted blankets can help in improving focus of the children suffering from ADHD problem. By using these blankets they can perform better in the classroom as it can improve their attention, attitude to complete task and seating behavior. It can also improve the in-seat behavior of the autistic children along with the behavior while doing a task as well as their motor activities like writing etc.
It can also help in reducing the fidgeting caused by various reasons including overload of sensory feelings. Affected people can start feeling their body under the excessive weight of these blankets which can be challenging otherwise. It can also help in sitting calmly for a long time in one posture while sitting in a car, bus or while watching movie etc. as it calms down your nervous system.
Reduction in anxiety
The root of all the benefits provided by weighted blankets lies in the fact that it can reduce your anxiety. In order to study the effect of weighted blankets in high anxiety conditions a study was conducted on dental patients. The results of this study found that the weight of the blanket calmed down the nervous system of a dentist patient by changing their psychology to make them feel calmer while a dentist worked on their teeth.
Another study has also proved that the DTP of these blankets can help in reducing excitement by calming down the anxiety of the children. It can also reduce the effect of obsessive-compulsive disorders by improving the production of serotonin in the body. These blankets can also help in improving various other disorders like aggression, depression, bipolar disorder and PTSD etc.
Soothing meltdowns
You will have to deal with meltdowns if you are raising a child with special needs. It can be difficult to deal with these meltdowns whether they are due to unexpected changes or overload on senses. Weighted blankets can soothe and even eliminate meltdowns by producing serotonin as well as calming their nervous system. Inpatients of psychiatric units can also use sensory rooms to improve disturbed behaviors along with reducing the condition of distress.
Making easy to change activities
It can be challenging for the parents as well as teachers to change the activities of the children with autism. In order to make these transitions easier the teachers in special classrooms have started using weighted blankets.
It works more effectively when they come into the classroom after recess as teachers dim the light of the classroom for few minutes and provide them weighted blanket. It helps the children behave better during transitions. These blankets are widely used in almost all the autism centers as well as at homes in Washington to calm down children returning from playing or school.
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