Bed rot is when you choose to spend a large part of the day or even all day in bed. (Photo: … [+]
When you first hear the term “bed rot,” you may think of a new mattress. After all, having something rotting in your bed, like a seven-layer cake, wouldn’t exactly be comforting. But what if the thing that’s rotting is actually you? Yes, the term “bed rotten” popularized on TikTok refers to when you’ve spent a good portion or even all day in bed by choice.
The operative words here are “of your choice”. For example, if you were run over by a yak, staying in bed recovering from injuries is not considered “bedridden.” That would be more post-yak rest. No, a “bed rot” is when you feel stress or anxiety or somehow feel “overwrought” with emotions and end up spending a long time in bed resting or coping. It does not specify what exactly you are doing. You could burrito yourself in your blankets (yes, burrito can be a verb.) You could watch Netflix. You could eat. You could talk on the phone. You could post photos or videos of yourself on TikTok and tag them with the hashtag #bedrot. You could, well, use your imagination about what else you can do in bed.
Bed rot can also include other activities such as eating or texting or both. (Photo: Getty)
The key here is that the rot isn’t when you just sleep in your bed during normal sleeping hours. It’s also not when you’re not having sex with someone else. Using the word “rotten” when you’re doing it with your partner, as in “I want to rot your world,” wouldn’t exactly be the sexiest pillow talk.
No, folks on TikTok have been promoting cheating as a new Gen Z self-care approach. While some might consider lying in bed all day a sign of laziness, the argument here is that “bedridden” is better listening to your body and mind. It is a necessary opportunity to recharge and maybe even redirect your energy. Again, it’s Gen Z using their beds for anything other than “ZZZZZZs”.
So where does treating yourself as an “ace” baggage fall on the lazy-to-practice-good-self-care scale? Is this something that should be discouraged or promoted? Well, the answer is a kind of disposable absorbent underwear. It depends.
It’s totally okay to take days off here and there. It is absurd to believe that you should be productive every day. Instead, it’s important to pace yourself. Some days you might be super productive. On other days, you might be looking forward to the final season of the TV series How I met your mother, sort of just going through the motions. So there’s nothing wrong with making it a wrap in bed once in a while, even if it’s most of the day.
Problems, of course, arise when you excessively rot the bed. If you have to check your calendar and see if the seasons have changed while you’re cheating, that’s a bad sign. It’s a bad idea to overdo anything, except possibly when avocados are involved.
Another problem is when you cheat for not doing something. If the last thing you did before the cheat was to say, “I’ll get you the report as soon as possible,” or “Thanks for the proposal, I’ll get back to you,” then the cheat might be best to to do. Covering yourself in blankets, sheets, and Nutella can be a form of escape. But it won’t solve many problems unless you’re in the mattress testing industry.
Too much bedtime can lead to insomnia by disrupting your circadian rhythm. (Photo: Getty)
A third risk is when cheating starts to affect your health in a negative way. It can disrupt your sleep patterns because you no longer associate your bed exclusively with sleeping and feeling sleepy. It can be a bit like watching your boss slather himself in peanut butter and then have to eat a peanut butter sandwich. You may lose your appetite a little. Likewise, spending so much time in bed can throw off your body’s signals about when you should actually be falling asleep.
Moreover, lying in bed all day is physically not pleasant. It’s hard to get cardio in your bed. Plus, your body isn’t necessarily designed to lie around all day. Doing this in excess can lead to all sorts of aches and pains, such as back pain.
If you’re looking for a way to rest and cope with life’s stresses, there are other alternatives to cheating. You can do some exercise, such as running, cycling, or playing sports. You can dance like no one is watching or watch a group of people dance. You can read a book or try to cook.
Ultimately, the measure of whether or not something is a good thing to do is how it affects your health and life, and how much control you have over it. Cheating every now and then should be okay, as long as it doesn’t cause more problems in your life. However, if you end up losing your job, your relationship, your friendships or your savings because something is rotting in Denmark or wherever your bed is, then it has become a problem. It’s also a problem if you can’t control how often and for how long your bed rots. “I missed my cousin’s graduation because I was cheating” would be a sign that you can’t control the rot.
Finally, don’t let the sheets and blankets cover root problems you may be ignoring. Before you go to bed, ask yourself why. For example, spending a lot of time in bed can be great for a relationship, as long as your partner is there too.