The term bed-rotting might sound scary, yet this activity is being embraced by a lot of people online, having been labeled as "Gen Z's newest self-care trend". As the name references, bed rotting is an activity that involves staying in bed for extended periods of time, doing passive activities like eating, binge-watching TV shows, or just scrolling through your phone. This is a way for many people to release stress after a long period of time by lounging in bed all day.
Bed rotting has been recognized as a way to relax and waste time without leaving them feeling guilty. In a time where hustle culture is glorified and being productive is always encouraged, a lot of people are prone to feel burnt out easily. Somehow, bed rotting acts like a rejection of the so-called productivity culture by doing nothing in bed as a form of de-stress and recharge. It's not being lazy and wasting your time, it's about allowing yourself to do less.
Though the trend may come as a simple form of self-care, bed rotting could be a warning sign if it's executed for more than two days.
Let's Talk about Bed Rotting
Psychologically speaking, bed rotting could be your nervous system's way of shutting down your body in response to any sort of trauma that you have induced over the time, be it mentally, emotionally, or physically. This happens when you choose to stay in bed because you don't feel like going out or engaging in a social activity. If you resort to bed rotting due to feeling unmotivated, shame, self-hate, and reluctant to "participate in life", it could potentially be a sign of depression or other mental health issues.
When bed rotting makes you feel trapped and pushes you further down instead of having an enjoyable rest, it could be that you're stuck in freeze mode. Our body responds to threats through the fight, flight, or freeze response. Freeze mode is easily described as someone becoming immobile when being faced with threats.
According to Medical News Today, the freeze response may be related to dissociation that can occur when a person has a traumatic experience. By being in freeze mode, it makes severely distressing events feel less real, causing a person to feel numb or detached. Hence, if you feel disconnected from the body and mind and decides to rot in bed, it's just like your body's natural way of telling you that everything's not okay.
It's true that bed rotting could be an easy way to decompress, but keep in mind that bed rotting could also be a sign of your body shutting down due to piled up stress. There are better ways for you to unwind, such as reading a book, doing yoga, spending time in nature, or taking a digital detox.
(HAI/alm)