Calming Deep Pressure to Help Reduce Anxiety and Stress with the OTvest sensory weighted vest

A Natural Way to Support Calm, Focus, and Regulation

The OTvest™ Weighted Deep Pressure, Sensory Vest delivers gentle, calming deep pressure to the upper body that may help reduce feelings of anxiety, stress, and agitation. This simple, non-invasive sensory tool provides supportive relief for individuals seeking a calming sensory experience throughout their day. The stylish design looks like normal wear for school, work, community, church and at home. It can be changed up with hoodies, blouses, shirts, t-shirts, jackets for different looks.

What makes the OTvest™ different is where and how the weight is applied. The weight is carefully positioned to lie directly against the body’s sensory receptors — not loosely in pockets or hems. This targeted placement is key to delivering effective deep pressure input.

Imagine the comforting feeling of firm, steady pressure on your shoulders and upper back. Many people instinctively use this type of touch to soothe someone who feels anxious or overstimulated. The OTvest™ offers a similar calming input through its patented, body-contoured weight insert — allowing wearers to experience this soothing effect independently, discreetly, and consistently.

Many first-time wearers spontaneously say:

“It feels good!”

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How Deep Pressure Supports Calm and Focus

Deep pressure input is widely recognized in occupational therapy for its calming and organizing influence on the nervous system. This type of sensory input may:

• Promote relaxation

• Support improved focus and attention

  

• Help reduce restlessness and agitation

• Encourage grounding and body awareness

• Support readiness for sleep

The OTvest™ can be a helpful complement to therapeutic programs for individuals experiencing anxiety, sensory dysregulation, or high stress levels.

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A Complement — Not a Replacement — for Medical Care

Weighted vests like the OTvest™ are often used as part of a broader therapeutic plan for individuals experiencing:

• Anxiety or chronic stress

• Restlessness or agitation

  

• Attention challenges

• Sleep difficulties

• Neurological or sensory processing differences

• Impulsiveness

The OTvest™ is not a medical treatment or cure, but a supportive sensory tool that can be used alongside care recommended by healthcare professionals. Many clinicians incorporate sensory strategies like deep pressure as part of a comprehensive approach to regulation and well-being.

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Designed for Effective Deep Pressure

Unlike other weighted or compression vests, the OTvest™ provides deep, sustained pressure using less overall weight. This is made possible by:

• Dense steel discs instead of bulky pellets or sand

• 

  Weight that rests directly against the body, evenly distributed front and back

• A body-contoured design for consistent sensory input

This sustained deep pressure can help promote:

• A sense of well-being

• Increased focus and functional engagement

• Improved body awareness

• Greater feelings of grounding

For many individuals, improved body awareness can reduce the anxiety that comes from feeling unsteady or dysregulated.

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How the OTvest™ Works to Help Decrease Anxiety and Stress

Many people describe a “natural high” after running or exercise due to changes in brain chemistry that support mood and regulation. In a similar way, deep pressure sensory input is believed to influence the nervous system in ways that can promote calm and focus.

The OTvest™ provides consistent, gentle deep pressure to the upper body. This input can support regulation and a sense of well-being for individuals who benefit from calming sensory experiences. The OTvest™ offers a non-invasive, holistic sensory strategy that can be incorporated into daily routines.

The Science Behind Deep Pressure

Deep pressure input is processed by areas of the brain involved in regulation and arousal, including parts of the limbic system and reticular activating system. Occupational therapy literature suggests that deep pressure may:

• Support parasympathetic (calming) responses

• Help modulate arousal levels

• Promote feelings of grounding and body awareness

• Encourage focus and attention

While individual responses vary, many people find deep pressure to be soothing and organizing.

The OTvest™ delivers this input in a discreet, practical, and wearable form, making it easy to use throughout the day in home, school, work, or community settings.

Research-Informed Foundations

OTvest™ creator Nancy VandenBerg, MS, OTR, developed the OTvest™ following her clinical work and research with individuals experiencing attention and sensory challenges.

In her manuscript The Use of a Weighted Vest to Increase On-Task Behavior in Children with Attention Difficulties, she references earlier work suggesting that maintained deep pressure may support calming responses and increased relaxed tone (Farber, 1982).

Temple Grandin also described how deep pressure helped reduce her own severe anxiety by lowering arousal and supporting attention and awareness (Grandin & Scariano, 1986).

Several studies involving children with autism have explored deep pressure for its potential calming effects (Edelson et al., 1999; Krauss, 1987; McClure & Holtz-Yotz, 1991; Miller et al., 1999; Zissermann, 1992)

Below is the entire research manuscript published in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy by Nancy VandenBerg, MS, OTR, occupational therapist, whose vast experience working in public schools with children and young adults with attention difficulties such as ADHD, TBI, sensory processing disorders, and autism, led her to create the OTvest™ weighted vest.

http://fileserver.daemen.edu/~rholmstr/weighted_vest_and_adhd.pdf

Professional Feedback

"I am an OTR in Buffalo, NY who tried the OTvest on during the OT Mental Health conference in Indianapolis last year.  One of my college’s purchased a few OTvests to use with her patients and allowed me to borrow one for a patient of mine (an adult with severe anxiety).  My patient tried it for about 2 weeks and ended up ordering one for herself.

I am now purchasing a few to have on hand to try with some of my other clients".

Jennifer Molea, MS,OTR/L, Community Reintegration Team Occupational therapist, Buffalo, New York, for patient with severe anxiety

→Place an order by clicking here to feel the calming effect of the OTvest™.

Look for the yellow "OTvest™" label on the chest pocket to make sure you are getting the genuine OTvest™. Others may look like the OTvest™ from the outside, but the weight placement is important.

Only the OTvest™ has the patented weighted insert with weight lying directly upon the body. This makes the difference!                                              

References:

Lequerica, A., Rapport, L., Loeher, M., Axelrod, B., Vangel, S., & Hanks, R. (2007). Agitation in acquired brain injury: Impact on acute rehabilitation therapies. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 22, 177-183.

McNett, M., Sarver, W., & Wilczewski, P. (2012). The prevalence, treatment and outcomes of agitation among patients with brain injury admitted to acute care units. Brain Injury, 26, 1155-1162.

Morro, K., Farley, J. (2016). Brain Injury in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility: Occupational Therapist's Role in Interdisciplinary Approach to Behavior Management. OT Practice, June 6, 2106, 15-18.

VandenBerg, N. L. (2001). The Use of a Weighted Vest To Increase On-Task Behavior in Children With Attention Difficulties. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 621-628. doi:10.5014/ajot.55.6.621