Quick answer
Deep pressure is firm, even pressure on your body, like a tight hug or lying under a heavy blanket. Many people find it calming and reassuring. A weighted stuffed animal gives a light form of deep pressure in the place where it lies, and you decide for yourself how firmly and for how long.
In this article
A firm hug from someone you trust, a heavy blanket on a cold evening: many people find these calming. Occupational therapists and researchers call this deep pressure. It is the idea behind weighted blankets, weighted vests and weighted stuffed animals.
What is deep pressure?
Deep pressure is firm, even pressure on your body. You can clearly feel it, but it does not hurt. It is also called deep touch pressure. Online you will also come across the term ‘deep pressure stimulation’.
You can get deep pressure from another person, for example with a firm hug or a massage. You can also get it from something with weight, such as a weighted blanket or a weighted stuffed animal. It is always about pressure that is calm and predictable. And about pressure that the person wants and can stop themselves.
How is it different from light touch?
Light touch is a tickle, a gentle stroke along your arm or the label in your collar. Deep pressure is firm and even: what you mainly feel is weight and being wrapped up. The idea behind deep pressure is that firm pressure comes across differently from light touch, and that it can make you calmer. Many people recognise that feeling from a good hug.
What you find pleasant differs from person to person. One person loves a firm hug, another feels smothered by it. People who are sensitive to touch sometimes find pressure unpleasant. Keep this in mind when you give someone a weighted aid: let them feel it and choose for themselves.
What forms of deep pressure are there?
Besides a hug or a massage, there are aids that use weight or pressure. They differ in how much pressure they give, where they press and how well they have been studied.
| Form | How the pressure works | What research shows |
|---|---|---|
| Weighted blanket | Often 6 to 8 kg, over the whole body | The most research; people often feel calmer, measured sleep changes little |
| Weighted vest | In studies 5 to 10 per cent of body weight, worn during the day | Often studied in autism; no clear effect found |
| Weighted lap pad | A weighted pad on the thighs | Hardly studied yet |
| Weighted stuffed animal | Usually 1 to 2 kg, in one place | One short poster presentation, at the dentist |
| Squeeze machine | Two padded panels press against the body from the sides | Mainly observations and one small pilot study |
Only use a weighted vest after advice from an occupational therapist. Which aid suits which situation is explained in Weighted stuffed animal, pillow or vest: the differences.
Where does the idea of deep pressure come from?
The best-known story starts with Temple Grandin. She built a machine with two padded panels that firmly squeeze the body from the sides: the squeeze machine, also known as the hug machine. She used it herself. In 1992, in a scientific journal, she described the calming effect of deep pressure on people with autism, on students and on animals. That article relied mainly on observations and her own experience. How the idea then found its way to the stuffed animal, via occupational therapy, vests and blankets, is explained in Where does the idea of the weighted stuffed animal come from?
What does research on deep pressure show?
There are a few small studies that are often mentioned, with early positive signs.
In 1999, researchers tested the squeeze machine with 12 children with autism aged 4 to 13. Five children received pressure, and seven lay in the machine without pressure. They came twice a week for six weeks. Parents did not know which group their child was in. In the children who received pressure, the parents saw less tension. Physically, little changed. The researchers themselves called their results preliminary.
In a 2013 study, researchers measured how the body responded to a weighted blanket during dental treatment. They found signs that the resting part of the nervous system became more active.
In 2015, 50 healthy adults were given pressure for a short time through a special vest. Afterwards, their nervous system was more in rest mode and they did better on a test. There was no comparison group, and the vest came from a company belonging to one of the researchers.
Studies like these make the idea plausible. They are still small, and researchers are still working out exactly how deep pressure works. For weighted vests, the form of daytime pressure that has been studied most often, reviews from 2009 and 2017 found no clear effect in children with autism. What this means for the stuffed animal is explained in Does a weighted stuffed animal really help?
How does a weighted stuffed animal fit in?
A weighted stuffed animal is a light, local form of deep pressure. It usually weighs 1 to 2 kg and only presses where it lies, for example on your lap. The blankets in research often weighed 6 to 8 kg and covered the whole body. In a few studies, a blanket of 1.5 to just over 2 kg was even used as the ‘light’ comparison.
So the results of blanket research do not carry over one to one to a stuffed animal. A stuffed animal does have its own nice qualities: you hold it yourself and decide for yourself how firmly and for how long. Why that can feel calming is explained in How does a weighted stuffed animal work?
If you want to use deep pressure for autism or for other questions about sensory processing, talk to an occupational therapist. They can help you work out what suits you. Read more in Weighted stuffed animals and autism. You will find an overview of all the basic articles under the basics.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between deep pressure and light touch?
Light touch is a tickle or a gentle stroke over your skin. Deep pressure is firm and even, like a hug or lying under a heavy blanket. Many people find deep pressure calming. What feels pleasant does differ from person to person.
Can you get deep pressure without an aid?
Yes, definitely. A firm hug or a massage is also a form of deep pressure. It must feel pleasant for the person receiving the pressure, though. They decide how firm and how long, and they can always stop.
Is deep pressure the same as sensory integration therapy?
They are two different things. Sensory integration therapy is a treatment given by a specialised occupational therapist, with its own goals and guidance. A separate aid that gives deep pressure, such as a vest or a weighted stuffed animal, is something you use in daily life, and it does not automatically follow that approach.