Do you often wonder why you cannot stop hugging something when you go to sleep? This is definitely a fetal memory that is buried in your subconscious which you have carried with you. You carried this trait throughout your childhood as you had to hug a stuffed animal as you found it to be linked to your security. And you carried this trait throughout your teenhood and you also are still doing it. Why would you have the need to hug something as you are going to sleep?
There are a variety of reasons that you would have to hug something as you go to sleep and some would be due to things you would not expect. But security is still the main reason that you need to hug something as you go to sleep.
Hugging Something Provides You With A Sense Of Security
If you are feeling anxious, you will have the need to hug a pillow or even a stuffed animal as you go to sleep. This is something that people with anxiety disorders do if they do not have a partner to sleep with. They will have either extra pillows to hug or stuffed animals. And many adults still like to sleep with stuffed animals as it provides them with a sense of security. Those who have anxiety disorders struggle with sleeping as it is as their minds are kept up by the things they are thinking about over and over again.
This way, if they have something calming they can hug, then it helps them get some much-needed shuteye. And aside from feeling anxiety, those who don’t struggle with the condition like to hug something as they go to sleep because this helps them feel not so lonely. And it does not matter if you are cuddly by nature. You still need something to hug as you go to sleep.
You Need To Hug Something As You To Sleep For Attachment Reasons
Humans are social animals and that is why they need to have an attachment to something or someone, even if they are not the type that forms relationships. That includes those that are known to be loners or who have conditions such as autism where they struggle with socializing and prefer to be solitary. They still have a sense of attachment and it will show as they go to sleep.
This is why those who don’t have relationships tend to sleep with extra pillows or extra-plush toys. Even if they are not necessarily ‘hugging’ as they are going to sleep, they are still feeling that sense of attachment with those extra items on their bed. If you, for instance, look at autistic children, they may not be necessarily hugging their toys in their bed. But they need to have toys or items in their beds so that they feel that sense of attachment, and it goes back to the previous point which is security.
However, there is a reason that people need to hug something as they go to sleep that would be surprising which will be discussed next.
Hugging Something As You Sleep Helps Reduce Snoring And Sleep Apnea
If you have sleep apnea or if you snore which often goes hand in hand, this can cause your breathing to not go smoothly. This is why you often wake up choking and having simply a disturbed sleep. You end up waking up in the morning exhausted and feeling as if you did not get a good sleep at all. That is because you didn’t get good sleep.
Therefore, hugging something actually is a natural thing to do if you have sleep apnea or struggle with snoring. When you hug a pillow, you are feeling that it is supporting your body properly as you sleep on the side that allows you to breathe easier. In severe cases of sleep apnea, you need to have a CPAP machine. But if it is not severe, hugging a pillow will help you gain the bodily support you need.
If you find it strange that you hug something as you sleep at the age you are at, now you know you are not alone and there are purposes for it. So there is no reason to think it is strange to have that plushie in your bed that you need to cuddle and hug as you sleep.
