With 3.2 million views of the TikTok tag ‘bed rotting’ and copious videos, it seems Gen Z are embracing a slower pace of life, with self-care happening in bed. Creators are sharing their morning routines and experiences of bed rotting for self-care, but the trend has come under fire for its potential health implications.
Content creator Vanessa Hill describes it in her video as: “When you do literally nothing but laying in bed. It is the end of optimisation.”
According to psychologist and The Beekeeper House founder and CEO Robert Common, “Bed rotting is the practice of spending an extended amount of time during your normal waking hours, or even a whole day, lying in bed. You could be watching films, scrolling on social media, talking on the phone, eating, or anything you would normally do if you were at home relaxing.
“This differs from bed rest to recover from illness or injury, and is often used as a method of dealing with stress or anxiety, or as a self-care tool,” he explains. This is a shunning of hustle culture and productivity in the pursuit of self-care.
“Although bed rotting might be the hottest self-care method trending on TikTok, the idea behind it isn’t new,” says Common.
“People have been taking ‘duvet days’ for a long time now, and many companies even have policies around this, allowing staff an entitlement to several duvet days per year.
“What we are seeing with this trend is more a case of social media driving conversations among young people. It could be especially appealing to Gen Zs, as many report feeling more stressed than other generations, so taking time away from it all to recuperate mentally could be especially appealing,” he explains.
But, is it actually self-care or is it doing more harm than good?
The benefits
There are some positive aspects to this grimly named practice.
“Taking some mental downtime to recharge has many benefits,” says Common.
“We live in a very fast-paced world, so stepping back, reconnecting with yourself, recharging your batteries and rebuilding some mental and physical energy is always a positive thing to do. In fact, it’s something that more of us should be scheduling into our routines if we can.
“Having this downtime puts us in a stronger position to reassess our goals and find the motivation to reach for them, manage our commitments and explore personal interests and hobbies without burning ourselves out,” he explains.
Damage to mental health and physical wellbeing
“Spending the odd day here and there throughout the month bed rotting is unlikely to do you any damage – quite the reverse. However, as with all things in life, balance is key,” explains Common.
For example, “If bed rotting becomes a dominating factor or behaviour in how you spend your free time, this could be an indicator of depression or burnout. If you suspect you’re experiencing these – or other underlying health issues – it’s important to seek appropriate support to help identify the root causes, and find healthy ways to manage them,” he says.
Other practices may be more beneficial.
“Whilst rest is important for wellbeing, exercise is also a powerful tool for maintaining good mental and physical health, so ultimately, it’s about not being on either extreme of the spectrum.”
Impact on sleep
Bed rotting can impact the amount and the quality of sleep you get, too.
“An important factor of good sleep hygiene is reserving your bed for sleeping only,” Common says.
“Watching Netflix, scrolling on your phone and eating are some of the most obvious activities that go hand-in-hand with bed rotting, but it can make it harder to follow a good sleep schedule.
“It’s also important to expend enough energy during the day to fall asleep on time, and maximise the benefits that come with proper sleep,” he says.
Alastair Lockwood, eye health specialist and ophthalmologist at Feel Good Contacts, said the Gen Z trend is also bad for your eye health.
Spending your normal waking hours or all day in bed and in the name of self-care, watching tv and scrolling on social media to destress, can be damaging for your eye health.
In particular, binge-watching TV or social media scrolling on increasingly bigger TV flat screens or small handheld phone screens that are in close proximity to you can lead to computer vision syndrome (CVS), where eyes become dry, tired and even strained.
While not causing any permanent damage, common symptoms of CVS (including eye fatigue, physical tiredness, eye twitching and red eyes) can cause a lot of discomfort and irritation in the short term. In addition, use of digital screens often reduces how much we blink, therefore denying our eyes the hydration they need to stay moist and healthy. Dry eye syndrome is when our eyes have become dried out, as a result of tear ducts no longer producing adequate natural tears that our eyes need.
If you feel the need to bed rot then here are some tips on how to avoid CVS and dry eye syndrome and keep your eyes in mint condition whilst you relax in bed:
Blink regularly
When you’re deeply focused on the screen, you tend to blink less, even if you don’t realise it. If you’re not blinking enough, your eyes are not receiving regular hydration and moisture from your tears. As a result, your eyes will begin to feel dry and irritated. Get into the habit ‘resting your eyes’ looking away and closing them purposefully, the eyelids are great protectors with lots of moisturising glands on the inside. I always follow the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a 20 second break and look at something 20 feet away.
Take a break
Give both yourself and your eyes a rest from your screen. Aside from that, simply just looking away from your screen for a minute or so every now and again can give your eyes a much-needed break.
Keep your distance
People are binge-watching on increasingly bigger screens, although the room that they watch them in remains the same size. It is therefore important that you don’t sit too close or too far from the screen. Your overall set-up plays a role in your eye health. So being too close or far will cause eye strain. If you’re watching a programme on a computer then I recommend positioning monitors at least 50cm from eyes with the centre of the screen about 10-15 degrees below the eyes. That way, the light won’t be so intense, and you won’t be craning your neck.
Watch the brightness of your screen
Before watching movies on a laptop or monitor, remember to check the brightness of your screen. If it’s set to the highest setting, turn it down slightly and see if it makes any difference to how your eyes feel. An incredibly bright screen can be very harsh on the eyes, so you can minimise glare by dusting your computer monitor and investing in an anti-reflection cover. Also take note of the lighting around your computer. Try to create equal brightness in your space so there’s no shadowy areas or glare from lamps.
Lighting
It’s important to have the right level of lighting in your room. I appreciate that it’s a fine line between good lighting that provides enough illumination and bright lighting that borders on glare.
Blue light
LED screens emit blue light which can be harmful to the eyes. In fact, watching too much TV (especially late at night) can suppress melatonin production, and melatonin is needed to make us feel ready for sleep. It’s worth investing in a pair of blue light blocking glasses. These have been specially designed with lenses to filter out and block the unwanted blue light given off by digital screens. Don’t worry if you wear prescription glasses. You can get blue light blocking lenses for your prescription glasses.
