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More young people than ever are spending excessive amounts of time in bed on their phones. It’s become known as ‘bed rotting’ and is a uniquely Gen Z and millennial phenomena. What’s causing this behaviour?
We’re sure that you’ve likely heard of ‘bed rotting’ by now, the infamous lifestyle habit that many of us are guilty of indulging in every now and then.
Gaining mainstream traction in late 2023, ‘bed rotting’ is a catch-all term for the act of sitting in bed and avoiding all other life responsibilities for as long as possible. It usually involves endless doomscrolling on your phone, leaving the blinds down and keeping contact with others to an absolute minimum. It exists among similar trends such as ‘goblin mode,’ ‘quiet quitting’ and embracing the term ‘rat people.’ Yes, all of those do exist, we promise.
How widespread is this behaviour, though? According to a survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in 2024, 24% of Gen Z admit to bed rotting, though many older participants also said they use their beds to avoid work burnout and general overload. Interestingly, 27% also say they wait for over half an hour before getting up in the morning and prefer to sleep in for as long as possible.
There can be benefits to doing this. We provide ourselves more time to unwind, destress, and practice some semblance of mindfulness, even if it is a little more on the casual side. Staying in bed and resting when needed is also a positive for our health and we should listen to our bodies when we can. Tiredness is real, people.
Still, that’s not to say that bed rotting can’t sometimes be a sign of something more worrisome, especially as far as our mental health goes. Extended periods of sedentary activity can alter chemistry in the brain and contribute to feelings of depression or isolation. Bed rotting for too long can lower serotonin levels and our mood, as well as disrupt our ability to regulate anxiety and alertness.
With all this in mind, why is the act of bed rotting on the rise, especially with Gen Z?
As we’ve recently explored, Gen Z are struggling to find areas within their lives that they can fully control. With a turbulent job market, an ultra-competitive dating pool, and ever-increasing pressures on our finances and prospects, it can become very easy to feel like things are spiralling beyond restraint. Bed rotting can be both a means of taking back some time and control for ourselves while also escaping these stresses, even if it’s only for a brief moment.
Studies have also shown that bed rotting is often a response to mental overstimulation, rather than physical exhaustion. Our phones have made it easier than ever to ‘switch off’ our brains and endlessly scroll social media in order to detach from the anxieties we’re facing in our everyday lives.
TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have popularised the act of indefinitely scrolling our feeds in ways that weren’t as immediately accessible ten or fifteen years ago. Our screen times are higher than ever, with Gen Z spending an average of 9 hours a day looking at either a monitor, TV or phone. The temptation to sit and scroll for hours is hard to resist, especially if your brain has been hardwired to do so from a young age.
