How Anxiety can affect the family and how weighted blankets can help

Anxiety can be a crippling disease, affecting not just you, but your loved ones, your friends, your business and more. A weighted blanket may not be the first thing to come to mind when dealing with anxiety, but it’s one of the simplest ways to help ease those crippling bouts of anxiety and panic. Those suffering from anxiety have professed just how much-weighted blankets help with easing their anxiety symptoms.

We created our weighted blanket for anxiety just for this reason. So let’s explore some scenarios and find out how this type of anxiety blanket can help.

Mary is a 32-year-old mom, who has two children and one has mild special needs, needing regular PT and OT therapy to cope. James is Mary’s husband and he travels weekly for work to meet with large clients, and Mary is alone at home with two children during the week. Mary has begun to lose interest in eating; she’s lost 10 lbs and is beginning to stress about missing her child’s appointment the next day. She also worries that she will forget to wake up on time to get her kids started for the day.

Mary recently had a panic attack at 7 am after getting up at 6 am and having 2 cups of coffee. Mary called James, her husband, terrified, and he told her he pays the bills and does most of the hard stuff, and that all she has to do is “raise kids and get them to appointments and that it’s not that big of a deal, just get over it and get the kids out of the door every morning.” Mary is developing a case of regular bouts of anxiety, and obviously, James is not happy about her state of mind.

Who develops anxiety? Someone who is super busy?

It’s not just high powered executives, who are affected by anxiety. Anxiety can strike anyone, whether they have a low-stress routine or a stressful schedule. Nor does anxiety favor age groups. It can strike children, teens, adults, and seniors. You can be rich or of average income or be poor and still develop a panic disorder. Anxiety is an equal opportunity mental condition. In fact, it's estimated that 18.1% of adults in the US suffer from anxiety. That's roughly 1/5th of our adult population. Those are staggering numbers. But know that you and your family are not alone.

How Does Anxiety Happen?

Anxiety is a psychological condition that can affect the whole family. All families are tied together and if one person begins to panic or have anxiety on a regular basis or in certain situations then the whole family can suffer. In a family, if things don’t get done, there is an overall change. A family needs everyone to play their role in order for the family to function well.

For example, if a parent is affected by social events and kids need to attend games or practices or musical events, like a band recital, the child shouldn’t suffer and feel embarrassed just because a parent doesn’t want to attend. Stop gaps like both parents going (so if one parent cannot go, the other parent will attend) or a backup friend who can help out to take kids is important to keep resentment building up in a child or teen because their parents cannot participate like everyone else.

Society is more fortunate today, because we have had a term for panic and anxiety, and it’s recognized by the medical community as a disorder so that the kid/teen/spouse can blame the disorder, rather than the person. Usually, the person having anxiety isn’t doing anything to cause it; the panic attack and feelings just happen. It’s not the person’s fault.

That doesn’t mean that it can’t wreak havoc in a family if it’s ignored or left unattended. It’s important for a family member with an anxiety disorder to speak with a psychiatrist or psychotherapist and explore behavior modifications or medication, diet modifications and therapy in order to help them function within the family. Masking problems with alcohol or illegal drug use can exacerbate the problem and have a serious effect on the family. Anxiety can lead to poor sleep routines and inattentiveness by the person who has it, which can lead to other problems within the family.

There are many flavors of panic and anxiety — some are mildly affected and their symptoms are triggered under certain circumstances, while others freeze up completely and experience frequent disabling panic attacks. If it’s your family, be empathetic and realize most families do have problems; this family’s problems just happens to be yours.

So How Exactly Does a Weighted Blanket Help with Anxiety?

A weighted blanket can help anxiety — the key stands behind its ability to raise serotonin levels, and decrease cortisol levels while lengthening periods of sleep and helping you to sleep deeper. Increasing “sleep architecture” is a win for anyone who is affected by anxiety. Some families purchase a weighted blanket only to find that others in the family are taking it to feel comforted and to calm down.

A weighted blanket is a natural solution to help someone calm down. It can be a real “gift” for those who suffer from panic or anxiety.