'Bed rotting', 'sleepy girl mocktail' and more: Americans adopt viral sleep trends

A survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) shows that Americans are going all out when it comes to TikTok sleep trends. Several sleep trends have gone viral on social media platforms in the past few months and the online survey found that they have been a hit.

The survey asked 2,006 people whether they had experimented with a viral sleep trend, and 37 per cent of them said yes. The survey also found that people belonging to one particular generation were more likely to have participated than others, and that is Gen Z.

People belonging to Gen Z are way ahead when it comes to dabbling with sleep hacks than any other generation. At least 55 per cent of 18- to 27-year-olds who took part in the survey admitted that they had tried viral sleep trends. Among millennials, the number was 50 per cent.

When it came to the race among genders, males won it. Men were found to be more likely to try sleep trends as compared to women. The survey found that 43 per cent of male respondents had tried a sleep trend, while only 31 per cent of women participants had tried one.

Among the several sleep trends, one that emerged on top was the "bed rotting" trend. The trend calls for participants to stay in their bed longer than usual, doing anything else except sleep. Termed "bed rotters", they stay in bed for hours, sometimes even an entire day. The aim is to rest and recover. Some of them also stay in bed just to hide from other people.

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DrAnne Marie Morse, a Geisinger Health System sleep medicine physician and spokesperson for the AASM, said in a statement, "These trends may not be inherently harmful, but it's important to remember that the bed's primary purpose is for sleep."

Experts advise people not to go to bed unless they are sleepy if they want to get a good night's sleep.

People also admitted to staying awake for longer in their beds before falling asleep and also spending at least 30 minutes in the morning in bed before actually getting up. Fifty-one per cent of respondents said they spent 30 minutes at night in bed before trying to fall asleep.

Viral sleep trends on TikTok

The Scandinavian sleep caters to couples and asks them to use two blankets instead of sharing one. Ten per cent of respondents said they did this.

The "sleepy girl mocktail" involved taking a magnesium drink before going to bed for better sleep. Millennials were found to have done it the most, with 14 per cent of them saying they had tried it.

The weird trend of livestreaming oneself sleeping also seems to have been a hit, with seven per cent of participants live streaming themselves sleeping and eight per cent admitting to watching others sleep.