U.S. Adults Are Popping In A Pacifier To Deal With Stress
Say What?! Adults Are Stealing Babies’ Pacifiers To Calm Their Stress And Anxiety
In need of a stress reliever? The next time you think about picking up a drink or going to that expensive yoga class, try popping in a pacifier first. Yes, you read that right. The new trend from China is slowly bubbling here in the U.S., where adults are leaning on the power of pacifiers to soothe themselves from life stressors.
According to the New York Post, binkies have been a hot commodity in China, with adults flocking to sites like Taobao and JD.com to purchase one. Customers are willing to spend anywhere from a budget-friendly 10 yuan ($1.40) to a luxury 500 yuan ($70). Now that trend appears to be picking up steam here in the U.S. Just like users in the Far East, customers in the West are also popping in a binky for a range of reasons, primarily to manage anxiety, sleep problems, stress, and to help quit smoking.
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Pacifier users are loud and proud on social media.
A TikTok user named Ms. Goddess revealed in a video posted that sucking on her pacifier before bedtime helped her to sleep at night. Another user claimed that it was an addiction, helping them to battle daily stress.
“Back to my favorite first addiction,” the TikToker named @PineappleVPF captioned a video of herself holding her head as she sucked away at her pink and yellow paci.
Interestingly, one Amazon customer named Chase swore that a good old pacifier was the key to helping them manage anxiety connected to their Autism.
“This works great for my anxiety and helps soothe me. I’m on the Autism spectrum, and as a young adult, this may seem weird to others but is a great way to calm myself down after being overstimulated or overwhelmed once I’m in my own private space,” they wrote after purchasing Nuk’s Big Size Adult Pacifier for Anxiety. “I wouldn’t use this in public because it’s not ‘normal’ in society, but it’s a great option when other options are exhausted. The pacifier’s ‘teat’ is a bit more narrow and less wide than other options for adults, but it works great and is fairly universal for most mouth shapes/sizes. Also love the cute design.”
This seemingly silly trend actually has some science behind it. According to Vice, psychologists refer to it as the “regression phenomenon,” the idea that when life becomes overwhelming, people tend to retreat into things that once made them feel safe as children.
