加重毛毯有助於緩解焦慮和失眠?

Do Weighted Blankets Help With Anxiety and Insomnia?

加重毛毯有助於緩解焦慮和失眠?

ANXIETY AND insomnia often spend the night together, causing many of us to toss and turn while our minds gets stuck on some worry or another. We've all suffered the occasional sleepless night before an important exam or big date. But some struggle with both anxiety and insomnia regularly. "Chronic stress often goes hand in hand with difficulty sleeping," says Sarah Silverman, a clinical psychologist, behavioral sleep medicine specialist and director of the Cognitive Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center.

焦慮和失眠通常相伴而生，導致很多人在擔憂的同時輾轉反側。重要考試或約會的前一夜，我們都會偶爾失眠。但焦慮和失眠患者，卻經常睡不着。“慢性壓力常常與失眠密切相關，”薩拉·西爾維曼（Sarah Silverman）說道，她是臨牀心理學家、行爲睡眠醫學專家，以及蒙特菲奧裏醫學中心認知行爲睡眠醫學項目的主任。

A growing number of those people are trying a new "treatment" to alleviate both the worry and the wakefulness: weighted blankets. These special blankets are filled with pellets or small plastic balls to increase their weight, from just a couple of pounds up to about 20 pounds. According to Harvard Health, using extra weight to calm someone has been practiced a long time, especially among children with autism or behavioral problems. Weighted blankets may add a feeling of safety and security, just as swaddling helps a newborn baby. And there is some evidence that, among these specific groups, weighted blankets do help.

越來越多的患者正嘗試一種新的“治療方法”以緩解憂慮和失眠：加重毛毯。這些特殊的毛毯填滿了顆粒或小塑料球，以增加其重量，從先前的幾磅增重至大約20磅。據《哈佛健康》雜誌報道，利用額外的重量達到鎮定人心的做法已實施了很長一段時間，尤其是用於治療自閉症兒童或患有行爲問題的兒童。加重毛毯或增加了一種安全感，正如襁褓對於新生兒的作用一樣。且相關證據表明，對這些特殊羣體而言，加重毛毯的確起到了作用。

But what about those with basic – or even clinical – anxiety?

但對於焦慮症患者或慢性焦慮症患者而言，加重毛毯是否也能起到作用？

Weighted Blankets and Anxiety

加重毛毯與焦慮症

"There is no research supporting use of weighted blankets on anxiety, so the answer is, we don’t know," says Martin Antony, professor of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto and author of "The Anti-Anxiety Workbook." "Anecdotal evidence says it helps, but that's not all that useful for recommending this as a treatment."

“尚未有研究支持用加重毛毯治療焦慮，所以答案是，我們也不清楚，”多倫多瑞爾森大學心理學教授、《反焦慮手冊》一書的作者馬丁·安東尼（Martin Antony）說道。“觀察性證據表明，這種做法確有療效，但卻並不足以令人推薦。”

Indeed, anecdotal evidence is really all we have to go on, especially when it comes to sleep disorders. "I think most of what we know about these blankets comes from consumer reviews," Silverman says. "The few studies published in alternative medical journals have shown some evidence for reduced stress and worry. The scant data that we do have makes a convincing case for potential stress reduction." For example, one small study of 32 adults, published in the journal Occupational Therapy in Mental Health in 2006, found that 63% reported lower anxiety after using a 30-pound blanket, and 78% "preferred the weighted blanket as a calming modality."

事實上，在睡眠障礙方面，觀察性證據是支撐我們繼續研究的動力。“我認爲，我們對這些毯子的瞭解大多數來源於客戶的評價，”西爾維曼說道。“在一些醫學期刊上發表的少數研究已證明，加重毛毯可緩解壓力和焦慮。這少部分數據爲潛在的壓力緩解提供了令人信服的理由。”比如，一項於2006年發表在《心理健康職業治療》期刊上的涉及32位成年受試者的小型研究發現：63%的受試者稱，使用30磅重的毛毯後，他們的焦慮症有所緩解，而78%的受試者“更願意選擇加重毛毯使自己恢復平靜。”