Most people pass the time on airplanes by reading, watching movies, or taking naps, but TikTok’s latest travel trend instead encourages passengers to sit still and stare straight ahead for hours — or, as Generation Z calls it, “raw dogging.”
“Just survived a 7-hour flight,” one male traveler, @oiwudini, posted his personal best on TikTok. “No headphones, no movie, no water… The power of my mind knows no bounds.”
The video has been viewed over 14 million times, and there is an endless stream of videos like his showing (mostly male) passengers spending hours in the air, forgoing any in-flight entertainment.
Some raw foodists even avoid eating and drinking.
Even Manchester City soccer star Erling Haaland and British rapper ArrDee have joined in, posting videos of themselves staring intently and without distraction into the camera on their recent long-haul flights.
It’s not clear what sparked the trend—or why the boarding pass is the only exception to screen-free time—but it seems that for these rest-hungry passengers, the goal of the game is to show off their mental stamina.
Of course, there is no evidence that they actually spend the entire duration of their flight careful. But experts say Assets that cheating would be better for their health anyway.
Is “raw dogging” actually good for the brain?
In a world where our attention is constantly demanded, switching off and taking a digital detox has its benefits.
“When we don’t have access to email or the ability to ‘check in,’ we can create the space to engage our minds with other activities and people,” says Dr. Sophie Mort, mental health expert at Headspace and clinical psychologist. Assets.
“When we give ourselves the opportunity to unplug, we have the opportunity to focus on what really makes us happy,” says Mort, adding that being constantly connected can lead to stress, burnout, lower life satisfaction, and even have devastating effects on respiratory, cardiovascular function, gastrointestinal health, and more.
“Switching off – even if it’s just while travelling – can be just the thing when it comes to protecting our mental state.”
But everything in moderation.
“Choosing not to watch a movie on an airplane won’t hurt you,” Mort concludes. “But skipping food, water and sleep on a long-haul flight – and then integrating and extending these behaviors into your daily routine – could be harmful.”
The dangers of “raw dogging”
In reality, moderation has been thrown overboard here.
Experts said Assets-that “raw dogging” – unlike the usual mindfulness exercises – is dangerous because people do it to get a badge of honor online rather than to really switch off and thus take meditation to the extreme.
That is why Gin Lalli is a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety, stress and depression and author of How to empty your stress bucket says she would not recommend it “at all.”
“I really have no idea why anyone would do that,” she says. “Sleeping is better than raw dogging.”
Lalli warns that the lack of stimulation, hydration and nutrition may not make passengers feel relaxed, but may have the opposite effect and lead to increased stress, dizziness, negative thought patterns and anxiety.
Aside from making the journey more unpleasant for themselves, raw feeders run the risk of causing serious medical emergencies on flights.
Eloise Skinner, psychotherapist and author of But are you alive? warns that the extreme lack of stimulation can even lead to dissociation or disembodiment, i.e. one no longer feels connected to one’s own body.
“Exercise is especially important on flights, and a complete lack of exercise carries the risk of deep vein thrombosis.”
She warns that in the long term, excessive mindfulness can lead to the re-emergence of past traumas or the brain being altered in such a way that emotions – both positive and negative – are suppressed.
“A healthier approach would be to integrate periods of reflection with adequate fluid and food intake and light entertainment,” agrees Lalli.
“Small, manageable steps are always better than extreme practices. They are more sustainable and lead to better and more positive results.”
