What is ‘sleepmaxxing’ and why has it gone viral on social media

Among the most important trends that can be seen on social media in recent years, especially after the pandemic, there is certainly the desire for greater care for one’s mental health and an increasingly widespread desire to find the right work-life balance. To all this, in recent months, there has also been particular attention towards a phenomenon called ‘sleepmaxxing’, or the need to rest in the best and most effective way possible. The search for perfect sleep.

What is sleepmaxxing

On TikTok the term has appeared in more than 125 million videos among guides, advice and suggestions to maximize the potential of a restful sleep through strategies and remedies of various kinds, some very eccentric (such as wearing particular glasses and masks) and others more focused on meditation and relaxation of the body. But, as Mashable reports, there are also those who suggest eating a kiwi before going to sleep. (I don’t know, try it and then let us know). In general, sleepmaxxing is a practice that involves using various techniques, routines and even accessories and gadgets to ensure more restful, deep and prolonged sleep. But it can also lead to real changes in lifestyle, through the upheaval of the environment in which one sleeps and the following of rigid behavioral programs.

But where does this need come from?

This desire to sleep ‘well’ is the result of the exaggerations that, especially the younger ones, often suffer due to a society based on speed. Staying awake shaking the phone, going out late at night, brooding in bed, thought after thought, about daily worries creates more than one problem for segments of the population who risk burnout. Many scientific studies, including recent ones, have underlined how sleep disorders are increasing in different age groups, changing the quality of existence. Even Google searches for “insomnia symptoms” are on the rise. It must also be underlined that this practice, which has become a trend, is very visual and easy to transform into videos, which adapts well to the short video format of TikTok and the creativity of influencers.

And if the public interested in the problem seems to be very broad, there are infinite ways proposed to reach the final goal: from wearing devices to monitor one’s sleep to special pillows, from smart pajamas to dedicated streamers with podcasts built from the ground up to put people to sleep. There are also those who suggest using heavy blankets to relieve anxiety or adopting polyphasic systems, that is, “experimenting with alternative sleep patterns, such as taking more naps during the day”. In any case, scrolling through all the videos on the topic, one after the other, is like entering a parallel, almost mystical dimension.

The risks

While having good sleep can be beneficial and improve your health, there is also a downside. In fact, every obsession is certainly not a healthy habit and can lead to an increase in stress. There’s even a word, “Orthosomnia”, which describes the worry of achieving, in a short time, this ‘perfect sleep’. Then there is also the incorrect use of various technological gadgets, which can lead to interruptions or alterations of rest. Finally, being a trend coming from social media and the web, we must guard against the two main negative effects: unrealistic expectations and misinformation. In short, sleepmaxxing, despite starting from excellent premises, is a phenomenon that should be taken with a grain of salt.