Anxiety robbing your sleep? A weighted blanket may help
After my sister gave me a weighted blanket for Christmas, it became the gift that I didn’t know I needed. It’s one of the best things ever to happen to me.
As someone with anxiety, I’ve struggled with restful sleep: Falling asleep can take up to two hours, or I wake up at least twice during the night.
The first night I started sleeping underneath a 15-pound weighted blanket, I slept straight through the night for the first time in months and felt more rested during the day. After a few days of good sleep, I learned that my sister had done her gift research she had read that people with anxiety tended to feel more grounded when using the blankets.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the wellbeing of healthcare workers?
Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, healthcare workers (HCW) have been overworked and faced with the risk of being infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of COVID-19.
A new study by US-based researchers – at the Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center and Columbia University – has found that healthcare workers have experienced significant psychiatric distress during the pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic first emerged in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019. Since then, it has spread to 191 countries and territories, infecting over 76.79 million and killing more than 1.69 million people.