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apartmenttherapy.com
article
https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/stress-cleaning-solutions-37396967
For many people, cleaning, organizing, and decluttering can help reduce anxiety. “The act of cleaning can distract them by keeping them busy and task-oriented,” says Rachel Goldberg, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles. “It [also] helps them feel a sense of control.” [...] If you notice that you don’t need to clean (as in, there’s no actual mess, but you’re feeling the urge to clean anyway), try other forms of anxiety relief, such as exercise, journaling, or meditation. [...] If you’re wondering whether or not your stress-cleaning habit is problematic, focus on your feelings, says Yang. When stress cleaning is healthy, it will leave you feeling more energized, focused, or relaxed. “If it’s a productive emotional release, it should feel like your anxiety has gone down,” she explains. On the other hand, unhealthy and unproductive cleaning will leave you feeling the same or worse than you did before.
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verywellmind.com
article
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-mental-health-and-cleaning-are-connected-509…
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 [...] 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 [...] 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.
Evidence suggests that having a messy, cluttered environment can create stress and interfere with your ability to concentrate, at least for some people. The actual act of cleaning and decluttering can boost your mood, help you move your body more, improve focus, and help you feel more in control of your surroundings.
P
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
official
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11925691
Visually simulated experience of cleaning behavior reduced residual anxiety from a stress-inducing physical scene. The manipulation involved mere visual simulation, with effect sizes (_d_ s = 0.205 and 0.141) in the expected small range by traditional standards (J. Cohen, 1988) and comparable with those in contemporary preregistered between-subjects research (Schäfer & Schwarz, 2019). The effect was observed and replicated on a pictorial measure of anxiety derived from basic emotional [...] ## found that (a) concrete visual simulation of cleaning behavior alleviated residual anxiety from a stress-inducing physical scene, an effect distinct from touch, and (b) actual cleaning behavior enhanced adaptive cardiovascular reactivity to a highly stressful context of social performance/evaluation, which provides the first physiological evidence for the attenuation of stress-related effects by cleaning. Overall, actual cleaning and simulated cleaning attenuate effects of physical or [...] # and 1b (Preregistered Replication): Visually Simulated Cleaning Alleviates Residual Anxiety From a Stress-Inducing Physical Scene
Experiment 1c (Preregistered Extension): Visually Simulated Cleaning Results in Different Effects From Visually Simulated Touch
Experiment 2 (Preregistered): Actual Cleaning Changes Cardiovascular Reactivity to a Potent Social Stressor
Discussion
Supplemental Material
Funding Statement
Acknowledgments
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Associated Data
O
oxfordcbt.co.uk
article
https://www.oxfordcbt.co.uk/stress-management-cleaning
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 [...] 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 [...] ## How to Incorporate Cleaning Into Your Life
1 Start small and do a little bit each day. The thought of having to clean your house from top to bottom in one day can be daunting and will only add to any stress or anxiety you are feeling. Don’t make your to-do list bigger than what you can handle mentally. To begin with, choose one thing to do today, and then something else tomorrow and so on. You won’t then be faced with a daunting feeling when you come to cleaning.
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momwell.com
article
https://www.momwell.com/blog/why-does-a-messy-house-give-me-anxiety
The anxiety you feel about a messy house usually comes from the invisible load behind each task, not the surface chore itself.
Reframing care tasks as functional, cyclical, and morally neutral relieves the pressure to reach a permanent state of done.
Laziness is a morally charged label, and an inability to start a task often points to something beneath the surface like overwhelm, neurodivergence, or task-initiation struggles. [...] A messy house often gives you anxiety not because of the visible mess itself, but because of the invisible load behind it, all the planning and decisions a single chore really requires. Add cultural messages that a clean home makes a good mom, and a pile of laundry can feel like proof you are failing. You are not lazy. Try reframing care tasks as functional, cyclical, and morally neutral, and let yourself rest before everything is done.
## Listen to Episode 136 · with KC Davis [...] KC said that if we want to overcome anxiety and shame around having imperfect homes, we have to reframe our thinking about care tasks.
We tend to think of household tasks as moral—there’s a sense of superiority in having a clean home. This leads to thinking that there is something wrong with us if our house is messy—that we are lazy or inefficient.
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columbiadoctors.org
news
https://www.columbiadoctors.org/news/reduce-stress-through-decluttering
Whether someone is dealing with depression or is simply overwhelmed, we often use a technique called behavioral activation, which involves purposefully engaging in achievable activities to improve mood. This approach has been borne out in research; one study even suggests that cleaning can help alleviate stress, even when the stressor has nothing to do with the clutter. Spring cleaning is a great example of behavioral activation. [...] “When our living environment becomes unmanageable for a period of time, it can be a symptom of depression or anxiety,” says Michael Carollo, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at Columbia University.
We asked Dr. Carollo to explain how clutter can impact mental health—and how activities like spring cleaning can help.
## How does clutter affect our mental health?
Some research has suggested that extensive clutter can have a negative impact on well-being. [...] When we evaluate someone’s mental health, we typically include appearance within an overall assessment of their ability to perform activities of daily living. If someone presents as noticeably disheveled or does not appear to be engaging in normal grooming, that could indicate the person may be struggling in many areas, including their home environment, driven by depression, anxiety, or some other mental health disorder.
## Where does spring cleaning fit into stress reduction?
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reddit.com
article
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anxiety/comments/15se8s0/does_anyone_else_clean_when…
Focusing on a task...cleaning and doing the physical cleaning clears your mind of negative thoughts and burns the adrenaline