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neurosciencenews.com
news
https://neurosciencenews.com/anxiety-stress-messy-home-23874
## 3 Comments
The correlation between anxiety and a messy home is a topic that hits close to home for many of us. This article does a great job of shedding light on the link between our mental well-being and our living environment.
It’s fascinating to see how our external surroundings can have such a profound impact on our internal state of mind. As someone who has experienced the stress of a cluttered living space, I can attest to the truth of these findings. [...] Take comfort in research suggesting that while disorganised environments can make us susceptible to stress and poor decision-making, your mindset can buffer you against these vulnerabilities.
If clutter, perfectionism or anxiety has begun to seem unmanageable, talk with your GP about a referral to a psychologist. The right psychologist (and you may need to try a few before you find the right one) can help you cultivate a life driven by values that are important to you. [...] Clutter and mess are more than just visual nuisances. They can have a profound impact on mental wellbeing, productivity and our choices.
Understanding why clutter affects you can empower you to take control of your mindset, your living spaces and, in turn, your life.
## About this stress and anxiety research news
Author: Erika Penney
Source:The Conversation
Contact: Erika Penney – The Conversation
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
This shows two heads.
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elevaterecoveryhomes.com
article
https://elevaterecoveryhomes.com/cleaning-as-self-care
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. [...] A recent study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that clutter not only reduces psychological wellbeing but also decreases the feeling of psychological home, which can be described as the sense of belonging associated with your living space.
When your space is disorganized, you feel:
Overwhelmed by visual stimulation
Anxious about unfinished tasks
Unable to relax in your own home
Embarrassed to have guests over
Out of control
### A Clean Space Provides Calm
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highlandhosp.com
article
https://highlandhosp.com/how-clutter-impacts-health
People who are embarrassed by the appearance of their home may be less likely to invite guests over, which can increase their sense of isolation. This may partially explain why hoarding often overlaps with depression and anxiety.
Memory issues can result from sensory overload, which can be triggered or exacerbated by a messy space. [...] One study found that women who perceived their homes as cluttered had heightened levels of cortisol, a stress hormone associated with chronic stress.
People with more clutter expressed less general satisfaction with their lives in another study.
It is more difficult to focus in an untidy space, especially if you have ADHD. [...] Obligations pile up that temporarily prevent us from keeping our living space tidy. In fact, about 55 percent of Americans find themselves stressed out by the clutter in their homes. Most of us handle this stress by cleaning on a somewhat regular basis, but when clutter is left unchecked, it can become problematic to the point of threatening our health.
### Physical Impact
Having a cluttered space can place our physical well-being at risk:
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nuvancehealth.org
news
https://www.nuvancehealth.org/health-tips-and-news/how-clutter-affects-your-b…
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. [...] A disorganized environment and a cluttered mind can overwhelm your brain, impair your focus, increase anxiety and stress, disturb your sleep and even dampen your mood and memory. The good news is, there are ways to manage your environment and thoughts to help reverse these effects.
Related content: Stressed out? Discover the effect of stress on the brain and ways to manage it.
## The neuroscience of clutter: why mess affects the brain [...] When you walk into a chaotic kitchen or trip over clutter on the floor, your brain registers that disarray as a source of stress. It might not be a saber-toothed tiger, but your ancient fight-or-flight mechanisms still kick in with a mild sense of alarm: Something’s not right here. Over time, living in a state of chronic low-grade stress can contribute to anxiety, heightened cortisol, inflammation in the body and even depression.
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apa.org
news
https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/clutter
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.
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sbtreatment.com
article
https://sbtreatment.com/blog/the-impact-a-clean-and-tidy-home-can-have-on-you…
The above study is not the only report linking clutter to reduced psychological wellbeing. In fact, it is part of a growing body of research showing that clutter can contribute to stress, increased cortisol levels, and depression. Among teens and adolescents who live in clutter, the disorganized home environment is associated with lower academic performance and behavioral problems. Based upon the available research, it’s pretty clear that when a home becomes too untidy, it can negatively affect [...] If you’re not yet convinced that cleaning should be a part of your self-care routine, you might be interested in what the research has to say. A recent study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that clutter not only reduces psychological wellbeing but also decreases the feeling of psychological home, which can be described as the sense of belonging associated with your living space. Study authors described clutter as being an overabundance of physical possessions, which makes the [...] value, and leads to living spaces becoming so cluttered that it is difficult to use them. For instance, a person who experiences significant distress over parting with old or broken items may have bedrooms or bathrooms that are so full of clutter they can no longer use them.
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verywellmind.com
article
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-mental-health-and-cleaning-are-connected-509…
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. [...] 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. [...] 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.
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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. [...] 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. [...] 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.