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Staying in bed doing nothing. It’s the new trend on Tik Tok, and it even has a name: bed rotting. Internet users, generally members of Gen Z, film themselves in their rooms hanging out in bed. The objective? Decompress and recharge your batteries away from the stress and anxiety caused by life outside.
Lately, you must have seen videos of people filming themselves in their beds…doing nothing. This new trend has hundreds of millions of views on TikTok. And like all trends that have gone viral on the Chinese social network, this one has a name, bed rotting, which literally translates as “rotten bed”, “decomposing bed”.
The antithesis of sports routines
An invention of Generation Z, bed rotting, therefore, consists of staying in bed for hours, even whole days, doing not much: watching Netflix, stuffing yourself with junk food, scrolling on your phone or simply sleeping .
A concept that is the opposite of the exhausting routines that TikTok has accustomed us to. We are far from routines that require getting up at 5 a.m. Bed rotting is closer to the Gobelin mode spotted on TikTok in spring 2022.
A decompression airlock or a way of life?
Most often practiced by students or young professionals, this activity serves as a sort of decompression chamber. This invitation to laziness is seen by some fans as a pastime like any other. For others, it is a real way of life. The goal is to spend some time out of time, without the usual responsibilities, far from the organization, efficiency and productivity required at work.
Between laziness and doing exactly what you want, bed rotting is a way for Zs to escape, to get away from everyday life and its hustle and bustle in order to unwind.
Consult a doctor online for your sleep problems
Be careful not to disrupt your sleep and ruin your health…
While there’s nothing wrong with hanging out in bed a few times, experts warn about doing it too often, or for too long. On TikTok, the Dr. Jessi Gold, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, urges bed rotting enthusiasts to ask themselves why they do it. It encourages Internet users to evaluate whether their sleep during bed rotting is really beneficial to them or whether it is actually just an escape from active life.
Because the risk of practicing this activity too often is to disrupt your sleep hours, due to excessive naps. Over time, bed rotting could also affect the mental health (risk of depression or other mood disorders), or even the physical health, of its fervent followers.