The dangers of "Sleepmaxxing," extreme sleep routines that are going viral.

From cover your mouth with adhesive tape until you swing around your neck, A viral social media trend promotes extreme bedtime routines that promise perfect sleep, despite limited medical evidence and potential safety risks.

Influencers on platforms like TikTok and X are driving a growing wellness obsession popularly known as "sleepmaxxing," a term that refers to activities and products meant to optimize sleep quality.

The rise of this trend, which generates tens of millions of posts, underscores the power of social media to legitimize unproven health practices, especially as tech platforms are scaling back content moderation.

A supposed cure for insomnia is to hang yourself by the neck with ropes or belts and swing in the air.

"Those who try it say their sleep problems have improved significantly," says a video on X that has accumulated more than 11 million views.

However, experts sounded the alarm about this extreme practice after National media in China attributed at least one hanging death to him last year.

"Normalize the absurd"

These "sleepmaxxing" techniques are "ridiculous, potentially damaging and lacking in 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 stressed.

Another popular practice is to tape your mouth while sleeping, touted as a way to encourage nasal breathing.

Influencers claim it offers a wide range of benefits, from better sleep and oral health to reduced snoring.

But a report from George Washington University concluded that most of these claims were not supported by medical research.

Experts have also warned that the practice could be dangerous, especially for those who suffer from sleep apnea, a condition that disrupts breathing during sleep.

"Harmful"

Influencers seeking better sleep also promote wearing blue or red sunglasses, sleeping with weighted blankets, and eating two kiwis just before bed.

"My concern with the 'sleepmaxxing' trend, especially as it presents itself on platforms like TikTok , is that Much of the advice being shared can be actually unhelpful, even harmful, for those with genuine sleep disorders," Kathryn Pinkham, a leading expert in the treatment of insomnia in the United Kingdom, told AFP.

Scientists acknowledge that wanting to sleep well is part of the legitimate pursuit of well-being and health, but they warn that this tendency could be contributing to orthosomnia, an obsession with achieving perfect sleep.

"The pressure to sleep better is rooted in the culture of 'sleepmaxxing,'" said Eric Zhou of Harvard Medical School.

While prioritizing restful sleep is admirable, setting perfection as a goal is problematic. Even those who sleep well vary from night to night.

Pinkham noted that sleep deprivation is often due to "anxiety about getting it," a fact largely unrecognized by influencers who engage in "sleepmaxxing."

"The more we try to control sleep with tricks or rigid routines, the more vigilant and stressed we become, which paradoxically makes it difficult to sleep," he stated.

"Sleepmaxxing" and "looksmaxxing"

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 to increase sexual attractiveness.

Some sleepmaxing influencers are taking advantage of the growing popularity of looksmaxing to promote products such as mouth tapes , powdered sleep-enhancing 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 regarding its effectiveness.

"Much of this advice comes from non-experts and isn't based on clinical evidence," Pinkham warned. "For people with genuine sleep problems, this type of advice often adds pressure rather than relief."

*Stay up to date with the news, join our WhatsApp channel

Also read: How healthy is it to eat menudo meat?

OF