Bursting cupboards and piles of paper stacked around the house may seem harmless enough. But research shows disorganisation and clutter have a cumulative effect on our brains. Our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganisation drain our cognitive resources, reducing our ability to focus.
Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli (visual, olfactory, tactile), causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren't necessary or important. Clutter distracts us by drawing our attention away from what our focus should be on. Clutter makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally.
Clutter can be a physical manifestation of mental health issues, Walsh tells WebMD. Those overwhelmed with "memory" clutter may have an undue preoccupation with things in the past and become depressed. Those who can't toss out items because they worry they will need them may be too anxious, he says.
Mental Health
Researchers have found that a cluttered home contributes to stress, anxiety, and poor concentration. When a person's home is dirty, they may begin to feel overwhelmed, out of control, and anxious. Having a clean, accessible home can also make daily routines much easier.
Some ADHD experts believe that a cluttered desk, closet, or house reflects a disorganized mind; others take it as a sign of genius. A lot of adults with ADHD, including me, agree with the latter opinion. Either view can be true, depending on the individual and the degree of his disorganization.
Excessive clutter and disorganization are often symptoms of a bigger health problem. People who have suffered an emotional trauma or a brain injury often find housecleaning an insurmountable task.
Behavioral/psychological: Clutter caused by depression, attention deficit disorder, low self-esteem or lack of personal boundaries.
“Cluttering is another behavior typical in folks with ADHD. Leaving items out as visual cues is a common way of compensating for an unreliable memory or inadequate time-management system, but to the untrained eye it can resemble hoarding,” she says.
It's completely normal to have a messy house. If it isn't impacting your sleep, stress, or focus, and isn't unsanitary, then there is no need to panic. You don't need to pressure yourself into cleaning for hours on end, trying to make your home seem completely organized all the time.
Improve Your Mood
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. 8 Cleaning can also reduce fatigue and improve concentration.
Sometimes, living with anxiety, depression, or stress brings on clutter. If you're overwhelmed by sadness or other negative emotions, you might not have the energy to clean and organize. Or, you might use shopping or accumulating things to manage your feelings.
A messy room can be a sign of depression or another mental health issue. Clutter affects your mood and can cause more anxiety or stress. Your child can get caught in a cycle of messiness that worsens their mental health and vice versa.
Compulsive decluttering is a type of disorder that is classified within a broad name, obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. Compulsive decluttering is the act of throwing items, or clutter, away, or getting rid of them in an attempt to "clean up" what one with the disorder may think is cluttered.
“A clutter-free environment might suggest someone who is not able to tolerate the untidiness or uncertainty inherent in life and relationships.”
A key difference between ADHD and hoarding disorder is the reason why people have so many possessions. A person with symptoms of ADHD may be untidy or live in a cluttered home because they are unable to organise their things whereas a hoarder will have a specific reason why they can't let go of something they own.
We may be compulsive hoarders.
Hoarding is related to anxiety and depression and can be a way for people feeling those symptoms to cope. If a person has clinically significant hoarding behavior, professional help may be needed.
There's the phenomenon know as the endowment effect, which is this idea that once we have this item or own an item, it's much more difficult for us to let go of that item. We value that item much more highly than we would if we didn't “own” that item. So there's a built-in mechanism that we have to save things.
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.
“There are four types of clutter: paper, digital, emotional, and spiritual,” she says. “Physical and digital clutter are symptoms of emotional and spiritual clutter.” Years ago, Hemphill started as a professional organizer.