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verywellmind.com
article
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-mental-health-and-cleaning-are-connected-509…
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. [...] ### Key Takeaways
Maintaining a clean home positively impacts mental health by relieving stress, enhancing mood, and fostering a sense of control over your surroundings. By tackling small cleaning tasks daily, you can cultivate a more peaceful and organized environment.
## How Cleanliness and Mental Health are Connected [...] 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
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elevaterecoveryhomes.com
article
https://elevaterecoveryhomes.com/cleaning-as-self-care
A clean space supports a clear mind. And a clear mind supports recovery.
### The Bottom Line
The connection between a clean space and mental well-being is undeniable – by understanding the psychological impact of our surroundings, we can harness the therapeutic benefits of a tidy environment.
Cleaning isn’t just about having a nice-looking home. It’s about:
Managing stress and anxiety
Creating a sense of control
Building confidence
Providing a safe haven
Supporting your mental health [...] Your home reflects your mental state. When your space is cluttered, your mind feels the same way. Research shows that messy environments increase stress hormones, make it harder to focus, and contribute to anxiety and depression. But cleaning isn’t just about having a tidy house – it’s an act of self-care that directly impacts your emotional well-being. Understanding this connection can change how you think about household chores and give you a practical tool for managing your mental health. [...] When life feels uncertain, cleaning is a tangible action you can manage – it can restore a sense of agency when everything else feels chaotic.
## The Mental Health Benefits of Cleaning
### Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Cluttered spaces can contribute to feelings of overwhelm and anxiety—when your environment is disorganized, your mind tends to feel the same way, and by systematically cleaning and organizing, you can create a sense of order and control, reducing stress levels.
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fepblue.org
news
https://www.fepblue.org/news/2023/02/08/17/34/The-Mental-Power-of-Cleaning
The connection between body, mind and cleaning is a deep one. In fact, one study found that people with cleaner houses were, on average, healthier than those living in cluttered homes. While researchers point out the study raises some questions, it does suggest a strong link between the interior condition of a home and physical activity. [...] The connection between body, mind and cleaning is a deep one. In fact, one study found that people with cleaner houses were, on average, healthier than those living in cluttered homes. While researchers point out the study raises some questions, it does suggest a strong link between the interior condition of a home and physical activity. [...] Accumulation. Clutter. Dust. A messy home or workspace can take its toll on your mental health and wreak havoc on your productivity. But understanding why can help you take charge.
Clutter can feel like chaos—especially when life feels most hectic. But decluttering is a great way to regain control of your environment. By cleaning, sorting and organizing, you are engaging with your surroundings in a positive way. Your mind will be at ease and your space will be much cleaner.
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oxfordcbt.co.uk
article
https://www.oxfordcbt.co.uk/stress-management-cleaning
This one is particularly true if you share your living environment with other people. Whether you are sharing with a partner, friends, housemates, there is always a chance that you won’t all feel the same way about cleaning. Seeing someone’s dirty clothes around, unwashed plates or a messy bathroom can cause negative feelings of resentment towards the person responsible, and the negative feelings then in turn will have an impact on your mental health. You must discuss your shared responsibility [...] Whether you think of cleaning as a meditative task, or an energetic throw yourself into it task. Either way, any form of exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins send messages to your brain that changes your perception of pain and will trigger positive emotions in your body. Regular exercise has been proven to reduce stress and reduce anxiety, along with preventing depression. Cleaning will also have these effects on your body and mental health as long as these chores require some physical [...] Clutter and mess can be linked to negative emotions like confusion and tension. Whereas a clean and tidy home leads to positive emotions such as a sense of calm and well-being. By sorting and organising the clutter and mess around you, you can reduce any stress or anxiety you may be feeling and this will help you feel like you are taking control of your life. The physical activity of cleaning combined with the result of a cleaner home helps reduce stress, feelings of anxiety, and depressive
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pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
official
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11925691
others; Tesser, 2000). Paralleling such mental mechanisms, we observe that cleaning can attenuate the effects of psychological threats to one’s self—as moral (West & Zhong, 2015), as rational (Lee & Schwarz, 2010), as competent (Kaspar, 2012), and as socially accepted (the present findings). This opens up a broad and exciting avenue for future research: Daily cleaning behavior, mundane as it seems, may serve supplementary coping functions that not only attenuate stress but also sustain positive [...] & Fallon, 1987; Russell & Giner-Sorolla, 2013; Tybur et al., 2013) and the conceptual metaphor of moral purity (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999; Landau et al., 2010; Lee & Schwarz, 2011; Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006). Instead, our findings are compatible with the emerging perspective that cleaning oneself not only serves basic biological functions of separating physical entities from the body, but also serves higher-order mental functions by grounding abstract procedures of separating psychological [...] of physical or psychological stressors, even when they have nothing to do with contamination or disease and would not be resolved by cleaning. Daily cleaning behavior may facilitate coping with stressors like physical risks and psychological threats to the self.
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mhanational.org
article
https://mhanational.org/resources/creating-a-healthy-home-environment
Keeping your living space clean is shown to promote calmness and a sense of control over your day-to-day life. Your home environment doesn’t need to be spotless, but clutter can be harmful to your mental state – contributing to depression, trouble focusing, confusion, and stress. Not only can clutter be distracting, but it has been shown to actually make it harder for your brain to think clearly. Neatness also provides predictability, which can cut down on brain fatigue and anxiety. Less time [...] A big part of a mentally healthy living situation is feeling like your space gives you comfort, support, and calming energy. This could look like keeping comfort items around. Your favorite blanket, a meaningful gift, or a candle in your favorite scent can go a long way in helping you feel more at home. Your home can also impact your mental health based on colors, natural light, and set-up. Appropriate light, furnishing textures and patterns, and room organization can help reduce signs of [...] Plan for Mental Health Month Image
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# Creating a healthy home environment
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Optimizing your space to improve your mental health is something that anyone can benefit from. For those living with mental health conditions, it is one tool of many that can be used to improve and support your mental well-being.
## Practice tidiness
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psychologytoday.com
article
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-truisms-wellness/201607/the-power…
The solution: Look at organization porn. Read an anti-clutter blog. Remember this article. People who keep their homes clean and organized are healthier, both physically and mentally. Spending the time and effort to keep your space clean is well worth it.
Why do we love organization? [...] A study led by associate professor NiCole R. Keith, Ph.D., research scientist and professor at Indiana University, found that people with clean houses are healthier than people with messy houses. Keith and her colleagues tracked the physical health of 998 African Americans between the ages of 49 and 65, a demographic known to be at an increased risk for heart disease. Participants who kept their homes clean were healthier and more active than those who didn’t. In fact, house cleanliness was [...] Regardless of the why, however, it’s clear that staying clean and organized is a good thing. It helps us feel better about ourselves, it keeps us productive and it may very well keep us physically fit. The next time we bemoan having to clean our home, let’s try to keep these things in mind. We’ll feel much better when everything is organized.
Contributed by Courtney Lopresti, M.S.
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newporthealthcare.com
news
https://www.newporthealthcare.com/resources/in-the-news/clean-home-benefits
5. Ferrari JR, Roster CA, Crum KP, Pardo MA. Procrastinators and Clutter: An Ecological View of Living with Excessive “Stuff.”. Curr Psychol. 2017;37(2):441-444.
6. McMains S, Kastner S. Interactions of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Mechanisms in Human Visual Cortex. The Journal of Neuroscience. 2011;31(2):587-597. [...] What We Treat
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