Bed Rotting: Why Doing Nothing Became a Wellness Trend

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On TikTok and Instagram, a new form of self-care is going viral: bed rotting — or simply spending all day in bed. For Gen Z, this trend represents more than laziness. It’s a cultural correction, a soft rebellion against hustle culture, and a way of reclaiming rest in a world of constant burnout. 

According to a recent survey, Americans spend on average around 364 hours a year — the equivalent of about 15 full days — “bed rotting.” Among Gen Z participants, that number climbs even higher, reaching 498 hours annually, or roughly 21 days spent lounging in bed.

So, can bed rotting be restorative? Why does the trend raise concerns, and what risks does it really carry?

What Is Bed Rotting?

The phrase sounds grim, but its practice is simple: staying in bed all day, scrolling, reading, napping, or simply existing under the covers.

“Bed rotting” first surfaced on TikTok, where users began posting clips of themselves cocooned in blankets, romanticizing the art of doing nothing. According to a 2024 survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), nearly a quarter of Gen Z (24%) admit to practicing it. For some, it’s a weekend ritual to recharge; for others, a tongue-in-cheek rejection of grind culture.

Bed rotting is both a symptom of modern pressures and a creative adaptation to them. For Gen Z, it offers a chance to reclaim the right to do nothing, to rest without apology. Unlike depression-driven withdrawal, bed rotting is usually framed as intentional — a choice to rest without guilt. Videos often feature aesthetic touches: soft lighting, cozy pajamas, and captions celebrating the beauty of slowness.

The Psychology of Doing Nothing

Psychologists and therapists remind us that rest is not laziness but a biological necessity. Time spent idle allows the default mode network in the brain to activate — a state linked with creativity, problem-solving, and self-reflection. “In our society, there’s an emphasis on being productive,” says Laurence Chan, instructor of medical psychology at Columbia University. “And bed rotting might be one socially acceptable way to say that you need a time-out and you’re looking to recharge.”

Historically, idleness has also been celebrated: artists spoke of “creative incubation,” while spiritual traditions framed rest as a path to renewal. The key difference is intention. Rest that is chosen restores; rest that is forced by exhaustion or depression can deepen distress.

Why Gen Z Is Embracing Bed-Rotting

Gen Z is the most anxious generation on record, shaped by the pandemic, climate fears, economic precarity, and the collapse of stable career paths. As Dr. Justin Kei, psychiatrist at Hackensack University Medical Centre, notes: “What Gen Z and later generations are facing is very different from their grandparents and parents. So we should be mindful that there’s probably a reason for bed rotting.”

For this cohort, the bed has become a sanctuary. Bedrooms double as offices, gyms, and therapy spaces — a pandemic legacy. Online, bed rotting dovetails with other “soft life” aesthetics, from cozy-core to self-care rituals. It’s less about laziness than about survival: a refusal to measure worth by productivity.

Why Bed-Rotting Raises Concerns

While many celebrate bed rotting as a gentle act of self-care, critics see a troubling undercurrent. 

At the cultural level, the trend collides with an entrenched ethos of overachievement. In the U.S. and other productivity-driven societies, rest is often stigmatized as laziness. For older generations raised on the gospel of “rise and grind,” Gen Z’s embrace of prolonged stillness can appear indulgent, even irresponsible. This clash reveals a broader generational divide over how health and success should be defined.

At the individual level, the risks are more concrete. Extended inactivity is linked to poorer physical health, including muscle deconditioning, slower digestion, and reduced cardiovascular fitness. Mentally, too much bed rotting can be triggered by burnout, anxiety, and depression and lead to social withdrawal. “While avoiding stress may feel good in the moment, prolonged avoidance is actually linked with long-term distress and greater dysfunction,” warns psychologist Laurence Chan. What may begin as a coping ritual can easily tip into a cycle of avoidance, where the very practice intended to relieve stress ends up compounding it.

For these reasons, experts stress that bed rotting should be approached with caution. Occasional rest days can be restorative, but a lifestyle of retreat risks reinforcing the very burnout, exhaustion, and disconnection it was meant to counteract.

The Sleep Connection: Catch-Up or Complication?

One of the most compelling debates around bed rotting is its impact on sleep. Some use it as a way to catch up on missed rest. Research on catch-up sleep suggests that sleeping in on weekends can partially offset the mental and physical toll of sleep deprivation. Women, in particular, may benefit from small amounts of catch-up rest, with improvements in mood and quality of life.

But the science is mixed. “Weekend catch-up sleep can actually help us recover from a sleep deficit from the previous week,” explains Joe Dzierzewski, vice president of research at the National Sleep Foundation. “But it’s important to limit the extra sleep to one or two hours on non-workdays.” Large amounts of catch-up rest may backfire, worsening mood or disrupting circadian rhythms. 

There’s another risk: spending long hours awake in bed dilutes its association with sleep. “The more time spent in bed engaging in non-sleep activities like watching TV or working, the more the brain starts associating the bed with wakefulness rather than rest,” explains Dr. Jade Wu, board-certified sleep psychologist.

Daytime bed rotting also keeps people indoors, cutting down on sunlight exposure that regulates melatonin and supports healthy sleep. Over time, this can backfire, leading to insomnia and fatigue rather than recovery. “Fatigue is often due to a lack of movement rather than insufficient rest,” Wu adds. “Physical activity, light exposure, and simply getting upright help regulate energy levels.”

Other Risks and Benefits

When practiced occasionally, bed rotting can be restorative:

• Recovery. Short bursts of catch-up sleep may ease anxiety, especially for young adults.
• Nervous system regulation. Stillness activates the parasympathetic “rest-and-digest” response.
• Mental break. By detaching from obligations, people report feeling recharged.

But experts warn of downsides:

• Sedentary risks: Inactivity contributes to deconditioning, muscle loss, and lower mood.
• Isolation: Spending too much time in bed alone can reduce social connection, a key buffer against stress.
• Avoidance coping: As Chan points out, bed rotting can reinforce anxiety, teaching the brain that avoidance equals safety. 

To better understand whether your experience of “bed-rotting” may reflect an underlying concern, you may find it helpful to take a 3-minute online burnout test.

How to Bed-Rot in a Healthy Way

Psychologists stress that moderation is the dividing line between self-care and self-sabotage. Here are strategies for keeping bed rotting beneficial:

• Set limits: Treat it as an occasional ritual — once or twice a month, not multiple days a week.
• Switch locations: Use a couch, hammock, or armchair instead of your sleep space to preserve healthy sleep associations.
• Stretch and move: Set reminders to get up, walk, or do light stretches to avoid physical stagnation.
• Stay connected: Call a friend or invite someone to join — social rest matters too.
• Mind your screen use: Limit doomscrolling; try reading, journaling, or mindful breathing instead.

To snap out of a rut, Alon Avidan, MD, MPH, professor of neurology and director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Centre, also advises waking up early in your sleep-wake cycle, no matter when you went to sleep, and spending about an hour in natural light if possible. 

If you routinely drink coffee, have it within a few hours of waking so it won’t interfere with your sleep drive later. And if you feel sleepy, a 20-minute power nap in the middle of your day can help restore alertness without disrupting nighttime rest.

Bed-Rotting and the Future of Wellness Culture

For younger generations, bed rotting is more than a quirky TikTok fad — it’s a cultural statement. With burnout rampant, romanticizing rest has become a quiet rebellion against the glorification of overwork. “If you are running at full capacity for so long without a break, you will hit a wall,” says Reena Patel, Licensed Educational Psychologist and Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. “It’s important to allow yourself this space to give yourself a break before burnout hits.”

But moderation matters. When practiced mindfully as intentional downtime, bed rotting can be restorative; when unchecked, it risks sleep disruption, isolation, and avoidance. Finding balance may mark a cultural shift — away from productivity at all costs, toward a gentler, if still controversial, philosophy of care.

This article was created in collaboration with the States of Mind content team.

*This article is based on personal suggestions and/or experiences and is for informational purposes only. This should not be used as professional advice. Please consult a professional where applicable.