For years, the bathroom has simply been somewhere you quickly pop to relieve yourself before carrying on with your day.
But now, for Gen Z, it seemingly has a much deeper meaning, as the so-called ‘bathroom camping’ trend is increasing in popularity.
No - this doesn’t mean literally setting up a campsite in your toilet, nor is it referring to using a portable toilet at a festival.
Instead, this is actually a trend that’s all to do with wellness and mental health, believe it or not, with some of the younger generations viewing the bathroom as a safe space to take five.
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So, what exactly is ‘bathroom camping’ then, you may be asking?
This new form of ‘restroom therapy’ sees Gen Zers shutting themselves away in either a public or private toilet and staying in there for hours to deal with stress.
It’s been compared to the previously viral trend of ‘raw-dogging,’ as they travel on public transport, which before we get into it, is not what it sounds like.
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The similar viral idea saw people attempt to ‘raw-dog’ a plane or train journey by abstaining from looking at their devices or listening to music.
Instead, they would simply be forced to sit with their thoughts with no distractions, in an attempt to do some self-reflection.
The likes of books, magazines, phones, menus, music, and podcasts, as well as any other forms of media, are all banned.
Meanwhile, the ‘bathroom camping’ trend has taken off for similar reasons, with social media users citing the fact there’s nothing to distract you as their main reason for doing it.
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One TikToker, who posts under the username ‘hendorunit,’ made a video about how he’s been doing it for decades and can even spend hours in there at a time.
In the clip, he explained: “So, I just heard of the term restroom camping. I’m not gonna lie, now that I think about it, I’ve been doing that for the past 20 years of my life.
“Every time something gets overstimulating in life where I’m at like a party or something, even when I’m at home and I feel like I’m overstimulated, let me go to the bathroom and refresh real quick.
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“There’s nothing like a bathroom pep talk to yourself in the mirror.”
He added: “There’s nothing going on in the bathroom, there’s no windows to look at. It’s just straight me and me in that bathroom.”
And users in the comments were quick to agree, writing: “I go to the bathroom at work like 11 times day just to stand in there” and “Wait what? Doesn’t everyone go to the restroom to…rest and reset?”
A third TikTok user penned: “I think naming it has normalized it and I had no idea how many of my people are out there.”
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So, next time you feel a little bit stressed, maybe spend some time in the bathroom - it’s worth a try!
Topics: Gen Z, Mental Health, TikTok, Life, Life Hacks
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Madison Burgess