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nuvancehealth.org
news
https://www.nuvancehealth.org/health-tips-and-news/how-clutter-affects-your-b…
If a messy room has ever made you feel anxious or stressed out, you’re not alone — and there’s a biological reason for it. Clutter can trigger a stress response in the body. For example, a study found women who described their homes as “cluttered” had significantly higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout the day. Your brain releases cortisol when you’re under pressure; consistently elevated levels suggest the untidy environment genuinely taxed these women’s brains and bodies. [...] Meanwhile, the clutter remains, or grows, adding to your stress and anxiety the next time you confront it. You can see how quickly this feedback loop spirals: Clutter creates stress, and stress prevents us from clearing the clutter. But you can break out of this loop — keep reading for tips.
Related content: The neuroscience and health benefits of experiencing awe and wonder
## How clutter effects information processing in the brain [...] Related content: How inflammation in the body affects your health
Clutter-induced stress can often become a difficult cycle to break. Disorganization can cause anxiety because you feel pressured by the constant visual reminder of things left undone or disorganized. This in turn makes it harder to muster the energy and focus to clean up the clutter.
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ifstudies.org
article
https://ifstudies.org/blog/a-cluttered-home-causes-more-stress-for-women-than…
My childhood experience is not unusual, as many people find clutter in homes and workplaces to be unpleasant and even stressful. For example, a 2025 study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that people who considered their homes more cluttered had lower levels of well-being and life satisfaction, as well as higher levels of negative feelings. Clutter also reduces the psychological attachment people have to their homes. Office clutter similarly increases emotional exhaustion and [...] 1. A 2025 study found that people who consider their homes more cluttered have lower levels of well-being and life satisfaction, as well as higher levels of negative feelings Post This
2. Women find a cluttered home more stressful than men do, on average, and this leads to detrimental daily patterns of the stress hormone cortisol. Post This [...] In this study, a cluttered, unfinished home contributed to husbands’ and wives’ description of their homes as stressful, while an uncluttered home with a yard, trees, and plants contributed to husbands’ and wives’ description of their homes as restorative. So why do people find clutter stressful and access to nature restful? Evolutionary psychologists explain the fact that people tend to find nature calming, especially landscapes with open grassy landscapes, trees, and water features such as
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apa.org
news
https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/clutter
and clutter. So the more clutter you have, the lower people report life satisfaction. Greater the stress. So here we are living in this consumer culture, but more and more, more. Buy, buy, buy. Well, you’re actually not living a good complete life because you’ll be less satisfied. [...] years, psychologist research has begun to find that living and working in cluttered spaces causes stress and anxiety and can harm both our mental health and our productivity. [...] It’s tiring. It’s exhausting. As we said, it could be an emotional trigger, but we know that the more clutter leads to more depression, more mood disorders. As I said earlier, lower psychological wellbeing, life satisfaction, negative emotions about the self. People with lots of clutter do lots of self devaluing the data shows. We didn’t do this study, but a study had been done that found it’s related to over consumption of unhealthy foods. So people with lots of clutter tend to eat a lot maybe
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www1.racgp.org.au
news
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/what-does-clutter-do-to-your-brain-…
Clutter can make us feel stressed, anxious and depressed. Research from the United States in 2009, for instance, found the levels of the stress hormone cortisol were higher in mothers whose home environment was cluttered.
A chronically cluttered home environment can lead to a constant low-grade fight or flight response, taxing our resources designed for survival. [...] And surprisingly, it doesn’t go away when we finally get to bed. People who sleep in cluttered rooms are more likely to have sleep problems, including difficulty falling asleep and being disturbed during the night.
Clutter-hero.jpg
People have been found to produce more stress hormones when they are surrounded by clutter.
Could clutter really make us overweight?
Multiple studies have found a link between clutter and poor eating choices. [...] Charity groups such as St Vincent de Paul are reporting a 38% increase in donations, year on year, as we get rid of the clothes, books and household items that don’t ‘spark joy’ or have a place in our future.
And there is good reason to get on board, whether it’s via the KonMari method, or just having a good clear-out. Clutter can affect our anxiety levels, sleep, and ability to focus.
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webmd.com
article
https://www.webmd.com/balance/ss/slideshow-clutter-affects-health
When everything is in order, you know exactly where you put your glasses and keys so you can grab them and go on with your day. That saves time and a whole lot of hassle. In one study, women who saw their homes as cluttered had high levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout the day, while those who described their abode as a well-organized, restful space had lower levels.
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## It Doesn’t Get Easier [...] ## Too Much Stuff
If your closets are bursting or your desk is topped with piles of disorganized papers, you may want to take some steps toward a neater home or workspace. While a bit of chaos might have some upsides -- at least one study suggests that a messy room spurs creativity -- it has many more downsides. It can even be damaging for your physical and mental health.
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## Mess Equals Stress [...] A neat, tidy house feels inviting, both for the people who live there as well as guests. A cluttered home may feel the opposite. But shutting people out can take a toll on relationships and make you feel sad and lonely. That could be one reason a hoarding disorder tends to overlap with depression and anxiety disorders.
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## Slips and Falls
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rmcad.edu
research
https://www.rmcad.edu/blog/psychology-of-clutter-designing-organized-and-stre…
## Understanding Clutter Psychology
Designers who understand the connection between clutter and mental health also understand the importance of designing functional spaces that smartly and comfortably accommodate the stuff of everyday life.
### How Clutter Impacts Cognition, Mood and Stress
Clutter has several impacts on and correlations with cognition, mood, stress and mental health, including: [...] Clutter isn’t just a physical problem; it’s also a psychological one. The spaces we keep often mirror the state of our minds, and disorganization can fuel stress, distraction and fatigue. Home organization strategies designed to help people streamline their lives with organized interiors supported by functional and aesthetic design can be used to nurture calm, focus and emotional balance. As designers better understand the connection between mental well-being and our environments, spaces [...] Physical clutter not only fills our spaces but also our minds, leading to mental fatigue, stress, irritability and heightened anxiety.
### Decision Fatigue, Attachment and the Zeigarnik Effect
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wllw.eco
research
https://wllw.eco/blogs/journal/home-organization-for-mental-health
Organization and mood are closely related. While light disorganization can hinder basic cognitive capabilities, overwhelming clutter can evoke emotions such as shame and guilt, hindering the motivation needed to tackle the mess. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America notes that cultivating an organized living space helps reduce stress, feelings of anxiety and depressive symptoms. For those battling a period of intense stress or depression, a cluttered environment can enhance these [...] Studies have shown that the long-term effects of high cortisol can lead to chronic anxiety disorders in some people. Women are disproportionately affected. A study of 60 dual-earning couples in 2009 revealed that women in cluttered and stressful living conditions showed increased cortisol levels along with more severe symptoms of depression, while the men appeared to be largely unimpacted by the clutter or stress levels of their home surroundings. [...] A 2017 study on young adults found that clutter was directly linked to procrastination. An organized home office can dramatically increase productivity and creativity. The process can be part of that productivity; the routine aspect of some activities, such as dusting or sweeping, can serve as a form of meditation, providing an opportunity for the mind to work through thoughts. Psychology Today notes that it's not uncommon for people to experience moments of keen insight while performing
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pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
official
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9216699
In the _chaos condition_, a chaotic living environment was realized by creating clutter, crowding, and sensory overstimulation in the room. Clutter was created by leaving toys, clothes, magazines, papers, and tableware scattered around the room (with sufficient space left for the participant to walk and sit). Crowding was created by making the room smaller, using a see-through curtain, which resulted in a more crammed room. Sensory overstimulation was created by the untidied room, papers and [...] ## , including negative emotional state, i.e., experiencing feelings of anxiety, fear or anger. Since parents may perceive chaotic home environments as uncertain and disorganized, due to an excess of interminable stimuli such as noise and clutter, household chaos might cause negative emotions in parents, which, in turn, could affect parenting. Indeed, household chaos has been related to negative emotions and conflicts . Moreover, higher levels of parental negative emotions are associated with a [...] Although household chaos has been proven to be related to physiological stress levels in children [10,20,21], research assessing the effect of household chaos on parental stress reactivity is scarce. However, associations between noise exposure, which is an element of household chaos, and physiological stress responses in adults have been reported ( ( It is thus likely that the full range of household chaos is also related to increased physiological stress levels.