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Do Weighted Blankets Help With Anxiety and Insomnia?
加重毛毯有助于缓解焦虑和失眠?
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.
焦虑和失眠通常相伴而生，导致很多人在担忧的同时辗转反侧。重要考试或约会的前一夜，我们都会偶尔失眠。但焦虑和失眠患者，却经常睡不着。“慢性压力常常与失眠密切相关，”萨拉·西尔维曼（Sarah Silverman）说道，她是临床心理学家、行为睡眠医学专家，以及蒙特菲奥里医学中心认知行为睡眠医学项目的主任。
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.
越来越多的患者正尝试一种新的“治疗方法”以缓解忧虑和失眠：加重毛毯。这些特殊的毛毯填满了颗粒或小塑料球，以增加其重量，从先前的几磅增重至大约20磅。据《哈佛健康》杂志报道，利用额外的重量达到镇定人心的做法已实施了很长一段时间，尤其是用于治疗自闭症儿童或患有行为问题的儿童。加重毛毯或增加了一种安全感，正如襁褓对于新生儿的作用一样。且相关证据表明，对这些特殊群体而言，加重毛毯的确起到了作用。
But what about those with basic – or even clinical – anxiety?
但对于焦虑症患者或慢性焦虑症患者而言，加重毛毯是否也能起到作用？
Weighted Blankets and Anxiety
加重毛毯与焦虑症
"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疗焦虑，所以答案是，我们也不清楚，”多伦多瑞尔森大学心理学教授、《反焦虑手册》一书的作者马丁·安东尼（Martin Antony）说道。“观察性证据表明，这种做法确有疗效，但却并不足以令人推荐。”
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."
事实上，在睡眠障碍方面，观察性证据是支撑我们继续研究的动力。“我认为，我们对这些毯子的了解大多数来源于客户的评价，”西尔维曼说道。“在一些医学期刊上发表的少数研究已证明，加重毛毯可缓解压力和焦虑。这少部分数据为潜在的压力缓解提供了令人信服的理由。”比如，一项于2006年发表在《心理健康职业治疗》期刊上的涉及32位成年受试者的小型研究发现：63%的受试者称，使用30磅重的毛毯后，他们的焦虑症有所缓解，而78%的受试者“更愿意选择加重毛毯使自己恢复平静。”
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