Now You Know: The New Self-Care Trend is ‘Bed Rotting’

• Have you heard of ‘bed rotting’?

Bed rotting has been all over TikTok and social media and people are obsessed with it. It sounds gross, but it’s not, and here’s everything you need to know. 

Bed rotting isn’t about giving up, sleeping in dirty sheets or starving yourself. No, it’s so much better than that. 

You get to stay in your bed all day, in your very own cocoon, and hide from the world. How amazing does that sound?

For countries dealing with cost-of-living issues, housing issues and also mental health issues, bed rotting is the answer.

Who doesn’t want to enjoy their warm, cozy bed on your day off to relax and recharge?

Psychologist and CEO at Beyond the Individual LLC,  Dr. Katrina Ostmeyer, says that “bed rotting” could actually be harmful to your mental health, not helpful.

“While most people enjoy a good lazy day, the new trend of ‘sleep rotting’ seems like a way to popularise a behaviour pattern that can be very harmful to many,” she said.

“When we spend our days laying in bed and engaged in passive activities, we limit the opportunities to encounter reinforcement and meaning in our lives.”

Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, Dr. Theresa Marko also reminds us that  “Inactivity breeds inactivity—you will feel less able to perform movements the less you move.

“Prolonged lying in bed is not good for your muscles or joints; you start to lose muscle mass after a couple of days of laying in bed – this means that you become weaker.”

Dr Jessi Gold, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University, has addressed concerns about “bed rotting.” 

On TikTok, he said,  “I just learned this word, bed rotting, and apparently it’s like you’re so tired and so stressed out that you just don’t leave your bed, and that’s what you do to cope.”

“I think a lot of us do that. We say I’m tired, because stress makes us tired, being anxious makes us tired, not sleeping because of both makes us tired.”

“But while we need sleep we need to ask ourselves is the sleep restorative or avoidant.”

“Are you sleeping because you don’t want to be awake, because of stress and anxiety or the things you have to do, or are you sleeping because you actually need it?

“You don’t always have to fight the urge to bed rot, but ask yourself why?”

So in the end, just be aware of your time and what you’re doing with it. But definitely enjoy some bed rot time!