what is the science behind weighted blankets and how do they reduce anxiety?
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According to [this 2017 blog post by a practicing psychiatrist,](https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/09/05/book-review-surfing-uncertainty/) it’s actually a consequence of the differences in basic moment to moment subconscious processing between neurotypical people and others.
According to current theories, the evolutionarily older parts of the brain operates on constant comparison of incoming actual sensory data and a series of complicated guesses about how the next couple seconds of sensory data *should* look. If there’s a couple tiny differences between the two, no harm no foul, but if there’s a big change between your expectation and reality it’s an unexpected surprise (duh). This is obviously useful for judging when to sit back and relax, when to be wary and agitated and when to activate adrenaline and run away from a predator.
This applies to all senses, including the somatosensory-proprioceptive complex. Neuroatypical people, such as autism sufferers, have variances in this system. Some have unusually high tolerances for subconsciously ignoring reality (and granting unusual credence to your own subconscious theories, such as in schizophrenia) and some have unusually low tolerances for small differences between subconscious expectations and reality.
Tags on clothing, light bedsheets and open and flowing clothes all shift slightly from individual movements and air currents, which in an individual with low tolerances are perceived by the subconscious the same way as a twig cracking on an empty path behind you – that is to say: **”All Hands On Deck, Battlestations! This Is A Red Alert!”**.
Their subconscious is just surprised all the time by ordinary objects. Almost all individuals probably learn to live with it, but I’m not familiar with the relevant literature to say any further.
**So, why do they like heavy blankets?**
When their hindbrain predicts that every square millimeter of the fabric will stay perfectly motionless and not change in any way, reality obeys. Therefore there is no danger present and the part of their brain vital for escaping unexpected things such as predators can finally relax.
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