Are you bed rotting? Or brain rotting?

Why the latest 'anti-wellness' trend might not be all it seems

I always read trend forecasts with a kind of eager scepticism. Eager, because I want to know the trends, in the way that people who go to fortune tellers want to know the future. And scepticism because, well, who predicted Brat summer? The best trends tend to just happen, without being focus grouped.

So it was with a raised eyebrow that I read the beauty and wellness predictions of trend forecasters WGSN in Amy Odell’s excellent Back Row. According to the report, the number one trend in beauty for 2025 will be “therapeutic laziness,” described as an “anti-wellness” concept linked to “bed rotting” (which simply means lying in bed, being unproductive).

Exhausted? Try 'Bed-Rotting' and 'Therapeutic Laziness.'

The WGSN report also mentions “sleep tourism” which is so far from a new trend that I wrote about it back in March (and felt like it had been around for ages then…)

Regardless.

My main takeaway was: hang on, they’re saying that staying in bed is “anti-wellness”? This makes no sense to me. Ask any doctor or health expert and they will tell yo…