The Connection Between Cleanliness and Mental Health

If you've ever felt stressed out, frustrated, or just plain overwhelmed when your house is a mess, you probably recognize the connection between cleanliness and mental health. That's why cleaning up and decluttering can sometimes feel so good—and even a bit therapeutic.

When some people feel overwhelmed or stressed out, they might try yoga, mindfulness, or even a massage. For others, giving the shelves a quick dust, wiping down the kitchen, or even organizing the closet is just as beneficial for their mental health as using a mindfulness app.

In fact, for some people, the simple sight of a clean and organized home can help them unwind and de-stress even after an overwhelming day.

Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Amazon Music

Negative Impact of Clutter and Mess

Keeping your home clean and engaging in the cleaning process is good for you. In fact, research shows that cleaning—or the lack of cleaning—can have a direct impact on mental health.

Clutter May Contribute to Stress

Research has shown that living in a cluttered environment increases stress. In the study, young women cared for an infant in either a normal or cluttered environment. While chaos didn't seem to affect mood or responsiveness, physical stress levels were still higher for women in the cluttered homes. Such findings suggest that parents should consider how cleanliness and clutter in the home may impact their stress levels.

Other research suggests that lower housing quality, including how clean the home is, can have an impact on mental health.

Clutter May Lead to Decreased Focus, Confusion, and Tension

Meanwhile, researchers have also found that clutter can make it difficult to focus on a particular task. More specifically, they discovered that a person's visual cortex can be overwhelmed by objects not related to a particular task, making it harder to focus and complete projects efficiently.

In some ways, clutter and mess are linked to negative emotions like confusion, tension, and irritability, while an organized home produces more positive emotions like calmness and a sense of well-being.

Clutter and mess can create more stress and anxiety, but by cleaning, organizing, and reducing the clutter, people are able to take control of their environment and create a more relaxing environment that helps them focus better on the more pressing issues in their lives.

Benefits of Cleanliness and Decluttering

Research has found that cleaning can have a number of positive effects on your mental health. For instance, it helps you gain a sense of control over your environment and engage your mind in a repetitive activity that can have a calming effect.

It also has been found to improve a person's mood as well as provide a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. There are a number of reasons why cleaning can help you destress. Here's an overview of some of the benefits of cleaning and decluttering your home or office.

Cleanliness and Physical Health

A clean home also impacts your physical health. According to a study by NiCole Keith, PhD, a research scientist and professor at Indiana University, people with clean houses tend to be healthier than those with messy or cluttered homes.

Gain Control of Your Environment

When people feel like their life is out of control or they are struggling with some uncertainties, cleaning can be a way to assert some control in their life. Cleaning gives people a sense of mastery and control over their environment.

A study by the University of Connecticut found that in times of high stress, people default to repetitive behaviors like cleaning because it gives them a sense of control during a chaotic time. Other research has found that decluttering can help older adults retain a sense of control over their life as they age.

What's more, clutter and disorganization can be really distracting, making it hard to focus or complete other projects. You can start to feel stuck in a rut.

Cleanliness and Mood

Aside from the benefits of having a cleaner home, the relationship between a clean house and mental health can help you reduce your anxiety.

Moreover, having clean sheets and making your bed may also help you get a better night's rest. When you get more rest, that provides a whole host of mental health benefits including an improved mood.

Additionally, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America indicates that the physical activity of cleaning coupled with the end result of a cleaner home helps reduce stress, feelings of anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Cleaning can also reduce fatigue and improve concentration.

Cleanliness and Focus

When your home is cluttered, messy, or exceptionally dirty, the chaos that the mess creates can impact your ability to focus. The clutter also limits your brain's ability to process information. Visual attention and performance on visual tasks is better in situations where there is less distracting clutter.

If you're having trouble focusing on a project, you may want to try decluttering your workspace first. Devoting just a few minutes to organizing your things and clearing away any mess may make it easier for you to concentrate and complete your work.

How to Incorporate Cleanliness and Decluttering Into Your Life

Whether you are struggling with depression, have a new baby, or just have a chaotic life, the concept of cleanliness and decluttering can seem like an overwhelming task that is simply outside of your reach right now. In fact, many people wrestle with whether or not cleaning should be a priority.

But, knowing that having a cleaner environment will help improve your mood and make your life more peaceful might be worth pursuing. Here are some ideas on how to incorporate cleaning into your life.

Start Small

Most people put off cleaning because the task seems way too big to tackle. But instead of expecting to get the entire house into order in one weekend, start small and do just a little bit each day.

For instance, pick one thing you want to do each day and then follow through. One day you might go through all of your mail. The next day you might clean the toilet and wash the bathroom sink. The next day, you might clean off the kitchen counter, and the next day, you might pick up all the clothes scattered around the house and put them in a laundry basket.

Set a Timer

Another option for getting a cleaning routine started is to set a timer and see how much cleaning you can get done in that time period. Or, you can use the time blocking method for scheduling to manage your cleanliness and decluttering routine.

If you would prefer, you could start in a bedroom, instead of the living area. This way, your cleaning will help you create a more peaceful environment that will help you sleep better that night.

Even though setting a time for a few minutes may not seem like much time, you can accomplish a lot more than you might imagine. Plus, you aren't overwhelming yourself by thinking that you have to devote three hours of your Saturday to cleaning. You get what you can done and then you move on to something else.

Involve Others

Sometimes you are at a point in your life where a cleanliness and decluttering routine is just not something you can handle on your own. Maybe you're recovering from a major illness, running your own business, raising a house full of kids, or trying to work and go to school—whatever your situation, if you know you cannot possibly accomplish everything that needs to be done without help, then you should consider involving others.

Ask Friends and Family For Help

Although asking for help may be hard, most people are willing to help you if you ask. So, talk to your partner, enlist your kids, or ask a friend or family member if they will help you get organized. Plus, it's a lot easier to tackle big projects when you have the help of others.

Get Outside Help

If you have room in your budget, you could also consider hiring someone to clean your house once or twice a month. To keep costs down, consider having them do the hard tasks like cleaning the bathrooms only and then cleaning the other areas of your home on your own.

When to Be Concerned About Cleanliness and Decluttering

There is nothing wrong with being neat and looking to cleaning as a way to calm your nerves and destress. However, it becomes an issue when your cleanliness and need for order in your home starts to become a compulsion.

For instance, if you won't go out with your friends or cancel plans because you haven't finished all your cleaning tasks for the day or week, then that could be a red flag that your cleanliness and decluttering habit has become a compulsion.

Likewise, cleaning can become an issue if it's impacting your physical health, feels a little obsessive, or is interfering with your schedule, like making you late for work or school.

On the other hand, if you are struggling to maintain order or do basic, everyday cleaning tasks, it may also be a cause for concern. Depression can make it very difficult to find the energy and motivation to clean and maintain an orderly home.

When you are struggling with symptoms of depression, dishes may pile up in the sink, the trash might not get taken out, and the laundry might not get washed. And once you start to fall behind on these tasks, you start to feel even more demotivated and overwhelmed.

If you are struggling with such everyday activities and are experiencing other symptoms of depression—like feelings of sadness, lack of energy, irritability, and changes in your sleep and appetite—talk to your doctor or a licensed mental health professional.

Takeaways

If cleanliness and decluttering help ease your stress, reduce your anxiety, and lift your mood, then by all means, grab your cleaning tools and get started. After all, a messy or cluttered home can be distracting. Just be sure your cleaning habits aren't a crutch. You don't want to rely solely on cleaning to give your life order and predictability.

Sometimes things won't go as planned, and you won't be able to clean. So, you need other tools in your arsenal to use to destress and unwind.

Conversely, if you are struggling with depression or another mental health issue and long for a clean and organized home but don't have the energy to do it, try starting small. Even if that means just picking up all the clothes off the floor on one day and loading the dishwasher on the next day, taking little steps to clean up your environment will feel more manageable and less overwhelming.

More importantly, taking a small step toward organizing and cleaning your environment may even lift your mood.