How A Weighted Blanket Can Help with Someone With Anxiety

Do You Love Someone with Anxiety?

If you love someone with panic/anxiety sometimes it is hard to figure out why they do what they do. Sometimes you might feel frustrated with this person. Here are things you can do to help your relationship.

Don't Preach at Someone with Anxiety - Preaching will not help them. Listening to them and getting them to open up to share their difficulties will help. At some point you have to decide that you love this person enough to have them in your life and if you give up lecturing them it's a sign of love. They know that their behavior is off and making them feel guilty about it won't help. In other words, preaching will do nothing to help this person's anxiety.

FigureOut What Their Triggers are - Whether it's a social setting, or loud noises, or a long day at work, air travel, germs, and/or food triggers, be aware of what it is with this person in order to help them. Stay close to help them get through a panic episode but don't judge them or be mean. This will not make things better. That behavior won't change them, it will only hurt your relationship. One woman had a husband who used to pop an Ibuprofen, and say "See I can take this and it won't freak me out!" and the wife quietly distanced herself from his him to protect herself from his criticism and eventually ended the marriage because he teased her so much. If you want to be in the relationship be supportive. Being mean and critical will not help the situation.

Listen Without Judgement – listen, lean in and stay close. If the person shares about what their worries are, it can help them to move past it. Touch, hug, support. Physical touch can go a long way toward calming the person.

Look for signs. Eventually if the person is having anxiety, they might learn to cover it quite well. It seems odd, but they can be petrified and try to carry it off like nothing is wrong. They do not want to burden you (as well as everyone else) with their fear. Stay attached and supportive, and follow their lead. Usually panic attacks pass and normal feelings return, the storm will pass.

There are resources out there. There are therapists that offer help for panic/anxiety. Many times this involves aversion therapy, which can be very helpful to the person long term. There is medication that can be taken for anxiety. Seek professional help if you need to for your loved one.

One support tool that doesn’t required taking medication is a weighted blanket. A weighted blanket supplies DTP -Deep Touch Pressure therapy which when applied evenly to the body can cause a calming sensation and the person can get used to a weighted blanket, increasing the calm feeling and weighted blankets can result in longer sleep cycles and is thought to lead to increase serotonin production which is our brain’s comfort hormone. One panic patient shares: “I suffer from anxiety due to bipolar disorder. I am 45 years old and was diagnosed 15 years ago. A Mosaic weighted blanket has worked so well at soothing my anxiety with our without medicine. It has lessened my intake of anti-anxiety pills. I ordered the large blanket with the soft finish and the heavier weight option and I am absolutely delighted in the effectiveness and the quality of the product. I am so glad I made the purchase!”

How heavy does your weighed blanket need to be? It’s recommended to order 10% of the person’s ideal body weight and if you are over 5 foot 4 inches you will need an adult large weighted blanket Mosaic Weighted Blankets adult large is 42 X 72 inches See www.mosaicweightedblankets.com/choosing-a-weighted-blanket/.

For more information on weighted blankets, go to www.mosaicweightedblankets.com