Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Catherine Falls Commercial/Justin Paget
Topics: Sleep, TikTok, Social Media
Emily Brown
Topics: Sleep, TikTok, Social Media
It's nearly the weekend and you might be planning a lazy morning in bed, so what better time to learn about a new trend called 'bed rotting'?
Admittedly it doesn't sound quite as appealing as other weekend activities like 'brunch' or 'drinks', but if you weren't intrigued, you wouldn't have started reading would you?
Like most new trends nowadays, 'bed rotting' is one that's come to light thanks to social media, and it's not actually as gross as it sounds.
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While the trend might sound like one that involves avoiding your laundry pile or leaving food in the bed to go bad, it's actually something that tons of people do already - you just probably didn't realize it.
Simply put, 'bed rotting' is all about hanging out in bed all day, not caring what's going on outside.
This pastime isn't anything new - Bruno Mars literally sang about doing such a thing in his 2010 song 'The Lazy Song'.
In cast you've forgotten, he said: "Today, I don't feel like doing anything / I just wanna lay in my bed / Don't feel like picking up my phone / So leave a message at the tone / 'Cause today, I swear I'm not doing anything."
This is probably just as good a description of 'bed rotting' as anything; it just so happens that it's only recently been given an actual name.
When you think about all the unpleasant things going on in the world right now, from rising costs, global conflicts and political turmoil, it's hardly surprising that bed rotting has become common among younger generations who aren't as often tied to responsibilities, like having to take care of kids.
However, while we all deserve a lazy day once in a while, a doctor has stressed that doing too much bed rotting could possibly be a sign of something underlying.
Dr Jessi Gold, assistant professor of Psychiatry at Washington University, discussed the term on TikTok, saying: "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."