Rotting through reading week
Arroy (AJ) Jacob, Web Editor |
Winter 2024 reading week for Mount Royal University (MRU) students has concluded— a period where students can supposedly catch their breath. And some things change every year, but many others do not— one of them includes TikTok’s recently popularized trend: “bed rotting.”
As the name suggests, “bed rotting” has been used to describe a form of relaxation deemed as unproductive and typically paired with mindless passive entertainment like “doom scrolling”– all in bed.
But looking at TikToks covering the topic, most videos tagged with #bedrotting includes memes making fun of the concept or how-to guides to remove yourself from situations of bed rotting completely.
One TikTok in particular from @marottes_music claims that a more accurate term to describe bed rotting is “languishing,” defined as feeling stuck, failing to make progress, or being successful.
Although the connection between bed rotting and languishing is real, the two are on separate intensity levels.
Reading week at MRU is one of the primal times to feel “stuck” in bed, knowing that classes will not keep you accountable to your workload. And so, bed rotting, or languishing, is one of the easiest things to do during this period, even though most of us have work we could be doing.
Languishing can be unpacked in the context of university students. In some cases, the concept can be studied and found to have some benefits that individuals may not have known. And just as light comes with a shadow, languishing can have gruesome consequences. In both situations, exploring and understanding how languishing and bed rotting impact university students and what that may mean for upcoming reading weeks is important.
The surprising benefits of “bed rotting”
Despite the negative connotations around “rotting,” Thriveworks says that “bed rotting might give some individuals a much-needed boost in their mental health and physical well-being.”
Bed rotting can, therefore, be considered a form of self-care. Suddenly, “bed-rotting” does not sound so consequential.
“In my graduating semester, I was just bed-rotting. But it was good for me that time because it helped with my burnout,” says Arooba Siddiqui, a recent graduate from the Bachelor of Child Studies in Child and Youth Care Counselling program at MRU. “And it was always during reading week!”
Thriveworks then lists “The Benefits of Bed Rotting for Your Well-Being.” Some of their reasons for “wasting away in bed” include providing physical rest and recovery, reducing stress and anxiety, helping you unwind after a long day, and offering a mental and emotional respite.
But only in moderation.
The dangerous pipeline to languishing
“Bed rotting can be a form of self-care when done mindfully and in moderation,” continues Thriveworks. Languishing, as mentioned previously, is the feeling of being “stuck,” and millions of TikToks with the #bedrotting hashtag seems to relate this feeling to that exact issue. Bed rotting is an easy gateway to feeling the gruesome side effects of languishing.
And MRU students during Reading Week are no exception to this pipeline.
I asked Siddiqui about her thoughts on languishing with her expertise and understanding of development and behaviour in university students when completing her program.
“In the long run, it absolutely does not help with development, because students just stay in the same segment, they don’t go out or explore. They end up stopping at their comfort zone and continue that pattern.”
After escaping the grasp of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Psychological Association says that “by nearly every metric, student mental health is worsening. During the 2020-2021 school year, more than 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem.”
And the quickest way to escape the blistering sentiment of mental health is to come to terms with the coziness of a bed and ignore your problems through doom scrolling. If you use bed rotting as a way to escape your underlying mental health issues rather than recuperate, then bed rotting becomes languishing, and you begin to feel “stuck.”
Since the pandemic, losing motivation to strive for academic success negatively impacted students. It easily made individuals feel that running away from projects, exams, and responsibilities may be simpler than confronting them. When the cycle repeats, wanting to rot and, as Siddiqui puts it, “stop in your comfort zone,” becomes habitual and a dangerously secondary gateway to anxiety and even depression.
Although students appreciate reading week for the quick rest from classes, it is crucial to take advantage of the week to relocate your priorities in self-care and avoid digging themselves into a ditch.
And understanding the difference between the two can be a good place to start when you decide whether or not you’re in a solid position to doom scroll on TikTok again.
