Decluttering your home is an important first step when you’re healing from a chronic illness. Why?
Clutter causes stress, impacts our physical and mental health and makes it harder for our brain to focus.
Women who view their homes as cluttered have high levels of the stress hormone cortisol (throughout the day) according to one study. The women in the study who described their home as a ‘well-organized, restful space’ had lower levels.
“A chronically cluttered home environment can lead to a constant low-grade fight or flight response, taxing our resources designed for survival.”, says Libby Sander, an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Bond University.
Clutter causes stress and chronic stress can cause disease and also exacerbate symptoms of existing health problems. Chronic stress is linked to many health issues including:
- insomnia and other sleep issues
- autoimmune diseases
- Anxiety and depression
- weight problems
- heart disease and elevated blood pressure
- cognitive and memory problems.
Our home is meant to be a place of rest that nourishes us from the stresses of the outside world, not a place that triggers more stress and serious health problems.
Cognitive Overload
Does it feel like you’re walking through mud, slowly sinking down deeper as if a weight was pulling you down?
Our brain can only take in so much chaos before it gets overloaded. In her article What does clutter do to your brain and body? Libby Sanders says that it’s the visual distraction of clutter that impacts our brain. She writes,
“The visual distraction of clutter increases cognitive overload and can reduce our working memory. In 2011, neuroscience researchers using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and other physiological measurements found clearing clutter from the home and work environment resulted in a better ability to focus and process information, as well as increased productivity.”
When our brain is not functioning properly, it’s hard to think clearly or remember things.
This makes it hard to make decisions or feel motivated. (Including motivation to take care of your health).
This can trigger more anxiety and depression.
Have you experienced that peaceful feeling of calm that comes after restoring order to the chaos? Like after doing the dishes or clearing your desk? Ideas, decisions and motivation seem to flow more easily.
After decluttering her home, one woman said to me, “I realized it was cluttering my mind, I don’t need my mind to be cluttered. It feels so good to know I can go to my closet and can easily decide what to wear, it was a burden to try to figure it out.”
As she points out, it’s the small things that we do daily that make a big difference.
Happiness and Relationships
People who have cluttered homes often feel embarrassment and ashamed to have company over. The long term effects of this is isolation and loneliness. Over time this has a great impact on health, happiness and longevity.
In his book The Blue Zones of Happiness, Dan Buettner writes,
“Americans may find it harder to make room for flow and family time because our houses are often filled with clutter. In fact, we may have more stuff than any society in history, and according to one study, Americans spend $1.2 trillion a year on nonessential stuff.”
In Dan’s study of centenarians, he learned that one of the secrets to their longevity and happiness was the quality of their relationships. These elders all over the world had deep long lasting relationships with family and friends that they prioritized.
Do you avoid having people over or do you simply avoid being at home?
The Foundation for Art & Healing, in their ‘Project Unlonely’ found that,
“Health risks associated with loneliness and social isolation are comparable to the dangers of smoking and obesity, increasing mortality risk by up to 30%. Feeling alone increases the risk of death by 26%, while social isolation and living alone increases mortality risk by 29% and 32%, respectively, according to a March 2015 study.”
Decluttering your home down to what truly matters and letting go of the rest, will not only make your home more peaceful and enjoyable to be in but will greatly improve your health and happiness.
Clutter causes stress and stress impacts our health. There are many things in life that we have no control over. Decluttering and healing our space is one thing we can do to take care of ourselves to greatly improve our health and overall quality of our life.
