Experts say: the wellness trend sleepmaxxing can be skipped

After a busy day, you’re not really looking forward to clocking in for a few hours of ceiling duty. It’s not surprising that we occasionally try a life hack to fall asleep faster; and thanks to TikTok, there’s plenty of choice. Scrolling through, you’ll come across many videos with the golden tip for a better night’s sleep; often, various things are tried together. And with this trend, sleep experts say you should be careful.

Meet sleepmaxxing

Where previously only loose tricks and tools were used, it now goes a step further with sleepmaxxing. “Here, people go to extremes to optimize their sleep, often with the help of intensive biohacking techniques, sleep trackers, and strict regimes to maximize the rest ,” says clinical psychologist Leah Kaylor. Influencers often promote various routines, supplements, and expensive sleep trackers. The focus is really on combining as many sleep trends as possible and using everything at once. Although a good night’s sleep is a must to stay physically and mentally healthy and occasionally seeking help isn’t strange, sleepmaxxing is really not the solution according to experts. It may even have more negative than positive effects. And there are several reasons for that.

It’s marketing, not research

The trend around sleepmaxxing did not arise from research, but from social media. Influencers collaborate with companies to promote products and make money. They often don’t know (exactly) whether those supplements, gadgets, or life hacks really work, and, perhaps more importantly, whether they are good for your health. With so much information at your fingertips, it’s not surprising that TikTok is increasingly used as a source for sleep advice; but experts say it’s important to first check whether what you’ve seen will actually help. That saves you a lot of time, money, and energy.

It causes stress

Being almost obsessed with sleeping as well as possible can actually have the opposite effect. All those tricks create an unhealthy situation where it’s no longer about your mental and physical health, but about the ‘perfect’ sleep. “Sleepmaxxing can lead to orthosomnia (sleep anxiety), which is the excessive monitoring of your sleep with apps that can cause people to become fixated on their sleep scores, leading to anxiety that makes it harder to sleep,” says Kaylor. Clinging too much to those sleep rules only creates more stress, causing you to stay awake. One night is simply better than another; that’s okay and shouldn’t be forced.

It only works temporarily

Although the tricks can sometimes really help you fall asleep, they won’t solve the real cause of your sleep problems. It can even happen that it ultimately only gets worse. Your brain starts to think that you need the life hacks to be able to sleep, you become increasingly dependent on all the tools and find it harder to do without. So if you notice that you feel you must follow all those trends, then you know you’re actually going about it the wrong way. It might be better to consult a real expert.

It makes sleeping too complicated

Using a mouth tape now and then or turning on white noise is really not a problem. But by trying everything together, sleepmaxxing makes sleeping much more complicated than necessary. There are many easier tips for a good night’s sleep that are also free. For example, think about following a regular sleep schedule or ensuring sunlight in your room when morning comes. Also, reducing caffeine, heavy meals, alcohol, and blue light from your phone later in the day can help. This also applies to getting enough exercise during the day and ensuring a cool and dark bedroom. There is no golden rule for optimal sleep; different things work for different people. Not only that, but not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. As long as you feel good and have enough energy to get through the day, you know your sleep routine works for you. Then you don’t need all those sleep trackers, melatonin supplements, and extreme evening routines; and according to experts, that’s a good thing. So you can scroll past that trend of sleepmaxxing.

Source: The Every Girl