4 Mental Health Benefits of a Clean Home
The connection between mental health and a messy home is two-way. This means mental health illnesses like hoarding disorder and depression can lead to a dirty environment while staying among clutter can worsen mental health. Keeping your house clean and organized can positively impact your mental well-being. Discussed below are four mental health benefits of a clean home.
1. Reduced depression
If you’re dealing with depression, maintaining a clean home can seem like a struggle. Reduced energy levels, feeling overwhelmed, and fatigue are among the signs of depression, which lead to a lack of motivation. This makes managing your daily responsibilities and tasks hard, and even keeping your home tidy can become challenging. Being overwhelmed by feelings of fatigue and lack of enthusiasm can make handling clutter seem impossible. Depression may also hinder your cognitive functions, meaning it might impact your ability to:
- Prioritize tasks
- Make decisions
- Follow through with your plans
Such mental fog can make one feel indecisive or stuck, which makes it hard to determine what to do with the mess around. As a result, you may end up not cleaning and just adding to the clutter. The best part is that you can find the motivation to keep your home clean when depressed. Start small and set manageable goals. Consider using tools like cotton swabs to clean areas that scrub brushes and rags can’t reach.
2. Better sleep quality
A messy and cluttered environment can raise stress levels, contributing to feelings of anxiety and overwhelm. When feeling overwhelmed or anxious, falling and remaining asleep and even getting restorative sleep become difficult. Over time, this may result in chronic insomnia, negatively impacting your overall well-being. Lack of sleep can worsen your mental health condition and lead to increased anger and stress levels.
Cleaning and organizing your home can create soothing, stress-free surroundings conducive to quality, restful sleep. When you remove clutter and tidy your space, relaxing and unwinding becomes easier, helping you fall asleep quickly and sleep deeply.
3. Enhanced Mood
Messy homes can be associated with tension, confusion, and other negative emotions. Constant bad moods or difficulties managing your mood swings may signify an underlying health issue like anxiety. Tidying your house can lead to calmness and other positive emotions, enhancing mood. Keeping your home clutter-free and organized can make you feel like you’re in charge of your life. Since cleaning your house is a physical task, combining it with a cleaner home reduces:
- Stress
- Depressive symptoms
- Anxiety
A clean home enables you to sleep better, enhancing your mood.
4. Improved focus
When your home is messy and cluttered, you’ll have several things competing for your attention. Being in a disorganized environment makes it difficult for your brain to concentrate, making it hard to narrow your focus to just one thing because your mind is wandering around. This can make it challenging to keep your home clean, especially if you have an attention deficit hypersensitivity disorder (ADHD).
Decluttering, cleaning, and organizing your space can help enhance your focus, making you more productive. If you cannot do the cleaning yourself, hiring a professional cleaning service can be helpful.
Endnote
Keeping your house clean and organized is critical for mental health and well-being. A clean home can help lower stress, improve sleep quality, enhance focus, and better your mood.
