'Sleepmaxxing', the dangerous quest for perfect sleep goes viral on the internet
Practices like taping one's mouth shut and hanging by the neck are examples of a viral social media trend that promotes extreme bedtime routines to achieve perfect sleep, despite little medical evidence and potential safety risks.
On platforms like TikTok and X, influencers are driving a growing obsession with wellness, popularly known as “sleepmaxxing,” a term that refers to activities and products aimed at improving sleep quality.
The boom in this trend, which generates tens of millions of posts, highlights the power of social media to legitimize unproven health practices, especially when technology platforms reduce content moderation.
A supposed cure for insomnia involves hanging yourself by the neck with ropes or belts and swinging in the air.
“Those who have tried it claim that their sleep problems have improved significantly,” claims a video on X, which has had more than 11 million views.
However, experts have sounded the alarm about this extreme practice after state media outlets in China attributed at least one death by hanging to it last year.
These "sleepmaxxing" techniques are "ridiculous, potentially harmful and lack evidence," Timothy Caulfield, a disinformation expert at the University of Alberta in Canada, told AFP.
“This is a good example of how social media can normalize the absurd,” he emphasized.
Another popular practice is taping one's mouth shut while sleeping, promoted as a way to encourage nasal breathing.
Influencers claim it offers wide-ranging benefits, from better sleep to improved oral health and reduced snoring.
But a report from George Washington University concluded that most of these claims were not supported by medical research.
Experts also warned that the practice could be dangerous, especially for those suffering from sleep apnea, a condition that interrupts breathing during sleep.
Influencers looking to sleep better also promote wearing sunglasses with blue or red lenses, sleeping with weighted blankets, and eating two kiwis just before bed.
"My concern about the 'sleepmaxxing' trend, especially as it presents itself on platforms like TikTok, is that a lot of the advice shared can actually be unhelpful, and even harmful, for people with genuine sleep disorders," Kathryn Pinkham, a leading insomnia specialist in the UK, told AFP.
Scientists recognize that wanting to sleep well is part of the legitimate pursuit of health and well-being, but they warn that this tendency could be contributing to orthosomnia, the obsession with the pursuit of perfect sleep.
“The pressure to sleep better is ingrained in the culture of 'sleepmaxxing,'” said Eric Zhou of Harvard Medical School.
While prioritizing restful sleep is admirable, setting yourself the goal of perfection is problematic. Even good sleepers have good and bad nights.
Pinkham pointed out that lack of sleep is often due to “anxiety about getting it,” a fact that influencers who practice “sleepmaxxing” largely fail to acknowledge.
“The more we try to control sleep with tricks or rigid routines, the more vigilant and stressed we become, which paradoxically makes it harder to sleep,” he said.
Many posts about “sleepmaxxing” focus on improving physical appearance rather than improving health, reflecting an overlap with “looksmaxxing,” another online trend that promotes unproven and sometimes dangerous techniques for increasing sexual attractiveness.
Some “sleepmaxxing” influencers are capitalizing on the growing popularity of “looksmaxxing” to promote products like mouth strips, powdered sleep drinks, and melatonin gummies.
However, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) does not recommend using melatonin to treat insomnia in adults, citing inconsistent medical evidence about its effectiveness.
"Much of this advice comes from non-experts and is not based on clinical evidence," Pinkham warned. "For people with real sleep problems, this kind of advice adds pressure rather than brings relief."
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