The relationship between clutter and mental health is simple. When clutter is winning, mental health is losing. Eliminating clutter will improve your mental health.
Sure, there are plenty of greater issues mounting up that can disturb your peace of mind – climate change, COVID-19, escalating global violence, and more. You can feel powerless over many of these plights. Clutter may seem trivial by comparison, but it’s something you can fix. It’s also a 100-percent preventable drain on your well-being. Consider the negative impact of clutter in your space, the benefits of decluttering, and how to clear away excessive “stuff.”
It impairs memory, leads to poor eating habits, and decreases impulse control. Clutter increases the risk for developing mood disorders and interferes with concentration and decision-making. It also stunts creativity, lessens your productivity, and saps your energy.
Clutter makes communication difficult and can even damage or destroy relationships. When an environment is highly cluttered, people are distracted by random visual stimuli in the room, interfering with reading the expressions and emotions of the people in the chaotic environment.
Multiple studies show that our living space is a “psychological home.” We want, and need, to experience it as a place of comfort and security. It’s an extension of your identity to which you form an emotional bond.
Read the full story at Study Finds.
