Weight/Pressure On The Body...

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Why does it feel so good?

I once read this sort of wild thesis that proposed that autistics had somehow retained biological characteristics of aquatic ancestors, and enjoyed the feeling of pressure because it mimicked the sensation of living underwater.

So autistics are dolphins, essentially?

But if that were true that it was from aquatic ancestors it would be expressed more independently of autism. That's my limited high school biology understanding anyway...

Or maybe descendants of the lost city of Atlantis.

Sardines.

I am not sure why but it definitely works, it works for people with anxiety as well, and generally I think it works with a lot of people. I know that it makes me feel grounded, much like having background noise also helps.

To me, it provides more sensory input and it's constant, which helps me not get distracted by other things. It's also a lot like a hug but without the unpredictability of having an actual person hugging you.

Don't non Aspies like this? They like massages.

Well, if a person has proprioceptive hyposensitivity (a lower than normal awareness/registration of the message about weight, pressure, and force being sent from the nerves in your muscles and joints to your brain), then it feels good because it corrects for that hyposensitivity.

Funny you mention that. I am into freediving and the deeper I dive down. The better it feels. Now if I could just learn to hold my breath longer.

when I wear my hug-vest (that's so good) I can easily concentrate on tasks I've to do. I feel secure, and the stimulus bring by the pressure help me to not being overstimulated (by sounds, lights ... the pressure is enough to forget the other stimuli).



(sorry for my english)

Hi, what is a hug-vest?

simply put, it is a deep-pressure garment, such as a compression vest or weighted vest that applies pressure to the wearer's torso. Like getting bear-hugged but minus the awkwardness.

Dolphins are warm blooded, air breathing mammals like us. They do not have gills to breath underwater. They have to come up to the surface for air and when they do. They take in air at about 1 atmosphere pressure so when they dive back down again. They experience 1 additional atmosphere of pressure on there body for every 30 feet they go town. So with 1 atmosphere air pressure in there lungs and multiple atmospheres of water pressure exerted against there body. It's create the perfect squeeze. this also applies to whales and penguins as well.

I would highly recommend the sport of freediving to any autistic person out there who like pressure on their body. Once you dive down to a depth of about 25 feet. It;s like getting a hug from heaven. You have no idea how good that feels. FYI: Don't try to substitute freediving for scuba diving. It won't work. The air you breath will be of the same pressure and the water around you and thus canceling out the effect.

This reminds me of the weighted blanket thread.
I dont know if i would like that or if i would feel like im being pinned down.
I will say that there have been many times when I have needed my mom, dad or cousin
to hug me to sleep.

It has been demonstrated that proprioceptive input causes a release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is an endorphin that makes a person feel happy. It's effectively a "love chemical" in that it is secreted during romantic interactions, and also, interestingly enough, when eating chocolate... and peas. Obviously the effect does not work for everyone, however for those with certain proprioceptive wirings, the experience of pressure is neurologically pleasurable on a chemical level.