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THE MENTAL HEALTH OF A CLEAN HOME

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“Cleaning your room is good for your health,” might sound like something your parents may have told you to get you to tidy up your toys as a kid, but turns out, there’s some truth to it. Our environment plays an important role in our mental wellness, and keeping a clean home, whether that’s your bedroom, apartment or house, has a variety of benefits you won’t want to ignore.


Learn about these benefits below, along with expert tips for cleaning your home and keeping it tidy.

Keeping Clean for Your Mental Health


“Our outer worlds invariably affect our inner worlds and vice versa,” says Danielle Roeske, Psy.D., vice president of residential services at Newport Healthcare.

Essentially, when our minds feel overwhelmed, our living spaces can also end up cluttered. In turn, a messy space can lead to stress, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and relationship strain, says Peggy Loo, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and director at Manhattan Therapy Collective.


Studies over the years have linked mental health to environmental exposure. A 1997 study indicates that childhood living conditions significantly impact health in adulthood, and a 2000 comparative study linked improvements in housing quality to residents’ improved mental health. More recently, a 2020 study in Korea associated substandard housing conditions, especially paired with housing unaffordability, with depressive symptoms in residents. Residents in a 2021 study in China were more likely to report good health when living in tidy homes.



5 Mental Health Benefits of Cleaning

While a messy space can put you in a mental bind, this also means that tidying up your home can help you feel better. The following are a handful of ways cleaning can benefit your mental health, according to experts.

Sense of order and control. A 2017 study on young adults found that clutter was linked to procrastination, feeling overwhelmed and lower quality of life[5]. Our outer environments can act as a container for our emotional and psychic states, Dr. Roeske explains. “When there is order and structure to our outer environment, it can help us feel more able to manage some of the internal feeling states and worlds,” she adds.


Familiarity and consistency. Human beings prefer similar routines that offer us stability, even amid otherwise chaotic circumstances, Dr. Roeske notes. Keeping your household items in order can provide that familiarity. However, she adds that “order” doesn’t necessarily mean everything is lined up perfectly and color coordinated, and that another person’s sense of order may differ from yours.


Released endorphins. The physical act of cleaning can also release endorphins, which Dr. Roeske states,“is hugely beneficial as a pain reliever, stress reliever and overall enhancement of our well-being.”


Improved focus. Having too many items in our field of vision distracts the brain’s processing capacity, according to a 2011 Princeton Neuroscience Institute study. Clearing away clutter allows the brain to focus on items and tasks one at a time.


Regulated emotions. The act of cleaning also requires us to slow down, which can offer a calming effect during overwhelming situations and help us explore and manage our emotions. “Deep cleaning can be a great constructive physical outlet for frustration,” says Dr. Loo.


Dr. Loo notes that while cleaning can help support better mental health, mustering up extra energy to tidy can be difficult for folks with anxiety, depression or burnout. In this case, it may help to see a mental health professional as well to learn other evidence-based coping strategies.

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