These blankets as the name suggests, have additional weights added to them. Weighted blankets play a crucial role in the provision of deep pressure therapy. This is achieved by covering the whole body with the weighted blanket, or by covering your shoulders. These are some of the methods on how to use a weighted blanket, to provide deep sleep therapy to your body. Profound pressure therapy results in a sense of calm and an improvement in sleep quality. What is the science behind this deep pressure therapy? Which hormones are involved in this process? These are some of the queries that will be answered in the next segment of this article.
The science behind deep pressure therapy
You might ask, how can a simple weight on a blanket have such an impact? All this comes down to one thing, hormones. Deep pressure therapy directly affects your sympathetic nervous system. This nervous system is directly affected by hormones controlling the amount of blood glucose and blood pressure. When stressed or anxious, you tend to breathe much faster, causing your blood pressure to increase. Deep pressure therapy will counter the sympathetic nervous system by encouraging the release of hormones that will affect another part of the nervous system called the parasympathetic nervous system.
This system slows your heart rate and blood pressure. It gives you the feeling of being calm and relaxed. Deep pressure therapy triggers the hormones that affect the parasympathetic nervous system, for you to get the sense of being at peace. You should watch this video to understand how this happens. Now that we have widely mentioned hormones, which hormones are these?
Hormones responsible
Now that we know the direct link between deep sleep therapy and hormones, here are the main hormones that trigger the parasympathetic nervous system. Don’t get confused as we move along, and a weighted blanket provides you with deep sleep therapy. Deep sleep therapy affects the parasympathetic nervous system by triggering the release of some hormones. The effect is that of feeling calm and relaxed. The hormones are;
- Serotonin
This is a chemical that your nervous system uses while signaling at each other. You get this chemical from an amino acid compound called Tryptophan. This chemical is found in foods such as nuts, cheese, and red meat. Serotonin is directly responsible for anxiety levels, depression and how you sleep. Serotonin will naturally balance your moods when insufficient levels in your blood. Deep pressure therapy enables your nervous system to trigger the release of this hormone, which gives the feeling of being relaxed in your sleep.
- Melatonin
This hormone directly affects your rest and wake cycle. It’s determined by the time of the day. During the dark, melatonin is produced less and vice-versa. Some factors contribute to the availability of melatonin levels in your blood, they include your age, as you age the melatonin decreases. The other factor is the type of food you eat, and you should eat a diet of walnuts and milk.
These factors should not be overlooked. In brief, deep pressure therapy helps to restore the natural melatonin cycle that gives you good sleep and reduced anxiety.
Summary
There is a scientific link between a weighted blanket and deep pressure therapy. Deep pressure therapy directly affects your nervous system by triggering the release of the hormones melatonin and serotonin. These are the hormones that play a considerable role in reduced anxiety levels and good night sleep.