September 07, 2026
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Weighted blankets may help ease anxiety in hospitalized patients, a new study suggests. Wider research on the efficacy of weighted blankets for anxiety and insomnia is limited.
Some people who feel like they're carrying the weight of the world find benefit from using weighted blankets.
Often filled with plastic beads or pellets to increase their heft, weighted blankets have been popularized in recent years as a way to help relieve anxiety, stress and insomnia.
Now, a small study suggests that weighted blankets may help alleviate anxiety in acutely ill adults who are hospitalized.
"Hospitalized patients often experience heightened anxiety, which can negatively affect their recovery, sleep and mental health," Marci Ebberts, the study's co-author, said in a news release. "Our study found that a short treatment period with a weighted blanket can ease their anxiety significantly more than other nonpharmacologic methods, even after the blanket is removed.”
The study involved 54 patients treated at Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, Missouri, between 2023 and 2025. Half of the group spent 20 minutes under a 15-pound weighted blanket before a 20 minute medical treatment. The other half spent 20 minutes under the weighted blanket after a 20 minute medical treatment.
Both groups reported an immediate decrease in anxiety levels that continued even after the weighted blanket was lifted.
The idea behind weighted blankets, which weigh anywhere from 3 to 30 pounds, is to mimic deep pressure stimulation, which can be comforting and help settle down the nervous system. Think of getting a big hug or how babies are swaddled, the Cleveland Clinic says.
Weighted blankets are sometimes used in psychiatric settings or with people with autism as calming tools. But scientific evidence about the efficacy of weighted blanket is, in general, limited.
Some research has found an association between the use of weighted blankets and reduced anxiety and insomnia. Another study found evidence that weighted blankets may be calming for people undergoing outpatient chemotherapy treatments.
Limitations of the new study include the fact that it was so small and that it relied on self-reports from patients.
But there is no real danger in using a weighted blanket, as long as it is not more than 10% of a person's body weight, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Wirecutter offers recommendations for the best weighted blankets for adults and children.
