It’s a rainy Sunday morning. You wake up, check your phone, and think that you are not yet ready to face the day. You take your laptop, order some comfort food, and snuggle under blankets. One hour turns into five. Suddenly, the sun is down, your limbs ache from idleness, and you are more tired than you were on waking up (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
What Is Bed Rotting?

Go to source

).

This is what the essence of bed rotting is all about: a trend that has characterized social media, where people decide to lie in bed for hours, or even days, doing the bare minimum. Browsing on TikTok, you will see people glamorizing this behavior with such captions as “bed rotting till further notice” or “my depression nest.” Although it might seem to be self-care, the experts warn against over-indulging in this habit because it can do more harm than healing.

It is not an issue to stay home and rest for a day. Rest is vital! The problem starts when the bed becomes something more than just a sleeping place—it becomes an escape from life.

According to the Sleep Foundation, prolonged time spent in bed, particularly when not sleeping, can confuse the brain’s internal clock. Your body unlearns to relate the bed to sleep and begins to connect it to such passive activities as watching Netflix, doom-scrolling, or eating junk food. This messes up your sleep pattern, i.e., your circadian rhythm, making it difficult for you to sleep at night and difficult for you to stay awake during the day.

What seems to be “recovery” can turn into fatigue, mood swings, and a looming sense of emptiness in no time.

A study published in the journal Sleep Science found that those people who deliberately prolonged their sleep duration in bed (without increasing their sleep duration) had a wide range of negative symptoms.

Bed rotting, the term that sounds so cozy, can resemble the consequences of chronic inactivity, just like the ones bedridden patients can experience. Your muscles start to stiffen up and your metabolism slows down, and your energy levels deplete. Rather than being recharged, you are left sluggish and more unmotivated.

Most of those who suffer from bedrot aren’t just lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. They’re usually stuck to the screen, watching TV, or they are scrolling through TikTok/IG/Reddit for hours.

This forms what experts say to be a dopamine feedback loop. You’re giving your brain a constant hit of pleasure on a shallow, transient level. The result? Desensitized happiness and an increase in detachment from reality.

Apparently, according to an Amerisleep survey, many Americans prefer to stay in bed as a way of coping over exercise, hobbies, socializing, and fresh air. In that quest, however, they are unconsciously widening the emotional divide and digging in patterns that further undermine the ability to explore aliveness (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Negative Effects of Time in Bed Extension: A Pilot Study

Go to source

).

Is It Self-Care or a Symptom?

For many, bed rotting isn’t about laziness—it’s about exhaustion, depression, or anxiety. It can feel like the only way to escape a life that feels overwhelming, thankless, or meaningless.

When bed rotting becomes chronic, it often isn’t self-care—it’s a cry for help!

Psychiatrists cite isolation, oversleeping, and aversion as the flags for mental disorders. Long-term bed rotting can be covering up an underlying condition that requires professional assistance. And the longer it is left untreated, the more difficult it is to break the cycle.

It’s okay to rest. But it’s also okay to ask, Why do I feel the need to hide from the world?”

The physical effects of bed rotting are real too! The human body is not designed for prolonged inactivity. When you sleep too much in bed.

Over time, what starts as emotional burnout can become physical decline, further trapping you in a cycle of inactivity and hopelessness.

There is a great contrast between resting and withdrawing. True rest replenishes you. It could be something that looks like taking a nap, going for a walk, journaling, watching a feel-good movie, or talking to a friend. Choosing deliberate silence is more important than unintentional avoidance! (3^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The Rise of Bed Rotting: How and Why Americans Are Doing It

Go to source

)

You do not need to jump out of your bed and run a marathon. At times, it can be sufficient simply to pull back the curtains, stretch, take a shower, or take, 5 minutes of fresh air. Little moves create great changes.

And if you are stuck in the bed-rotting cycle, talk to someone. A friend. A family member. A therapist. You deserve something more than numbness—you deserve connection, self-awareness, and care.

Rotting in bed may seem like taking temporary leave of your sanity, but it is at the expense of your long-term well-being. Beneath this comfy blanket of comfort lies a slow deterioration of energy, identity, and purpose. It is high time that we change the debate.

Rest is radical.
Rest should revive, not retreat you from life.

References:

Source-Medindia