BMC Psychol. 2025 Jul 17;13(1):796. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03094-0.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Optimal stress management and maintaining a good quality of sleep are essential parts of healthy physical and psychological flourishing. Especially young adult university students have shown vulnerability to stress related outcomes and sleep quality disturbances, due to various factors associated with personal life events, academic stress, self-responsibilities, etc. A novel method for mental health management, called Restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST), has shown preliminary results confirming its beneficial effects. Therefore, in our study, we focused on examining the effectiveness of Chamber REST variant, as a method for optimizing the stress response and sleep quality in the sample of university students.METHODS: Recruited sample of 237 university students were included in the final analysis. Single brief (3-hour) Chamber REST session was completed by 176 participants, while 61 were part of the control group. Matching procedure was performed to equate experimental and control groups, with a 2:1 ratio (experimental = 120, control = 60). The research protocol evaluated the level of perceived stress (PSS), sleep quality (VAS), information overload (VAS), rumination (RRQ) and mindfulness (MAAS) at Week prior to treatment and at 1-week follow-up.RESULTS: Based on Repeated Measures ANOVA, we found that in the experimental group there was a significant reduction (from Week prior to Week post) in perceived stress [p