The Clutter-Depression-Anxiety Cycle: How to Stop It

It's a vicious cycle: anxiety or depression can lead to a cluttery home and a cluttery home can lead to depression and more anxiety, and we tend to do less about the house, which makes it even worse!

• Overstimulates our system (visual, olfactory, tactile), causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren't necessary or important.
• Draws our attention away from what our focus should be on.
• Makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally.
• Constantly reminds our brains that we still have a huge to-do list.
• Causes anxiety because the idea of sorting piles is overwhelming
• Creates feelings of guilt and embarrassment, particularly when someone drops by unexpectedly.
• Frustrates us by making it hard to find anything we need- keys, bills, checkbook, etc.

The clutter in our home not only makes our homes look bad, it makes us feel bad, as well.

In Life at Home in The Twenty-First Century, anthropologists, social scientists, and archaeologists found:
A definite link between an over-abundance of household objects (what they called "stressful" home environments) and the homeowner's health. Definitely affecting the woman's long-term well-being. Men, apparently, aren't affected by the mess. As they measured cortisol levels over a number of days and in cluttered or messy homes, there was a higher rate of depressed mood toward the evening.

So, the more time we spend in our cluttery home, the more depressed we get.

We simply have too much surrounding us.

An average room has over 2,000 visible objects, particularly the office, or computer area that we tend to spend the most time in: emailing, browsing online, children doing homework, etc. It's no wonder we're over-stimulated and anxious! Which is one of the reasons my yearly decluttering challenge is not too hard to complete! Generally, we don't realize just how quickly things add up and just how much of an abundance we have.
Getting rid of things is emotional work.

➡️ Join the Free 2023 decluttering challenge:

Even when the family is ready to declutter and be rid of items, they tend to get paralyzed by emotions- either with sentimental attachments, guilt about the value of the items and believing they should sell it, and having such a cramped schedule, they don't have time to declutter.

The schedule is so cramped, in fact, that people have very little leisure time- the actual "leisure" time these days, ends up with people being plugged in, which doesn't give our brains adequate time to unwind and relax. Click here for ways to simplify your schedule.

Organizing is not simplifying.

We simply can't purchase enough coordinating storage bins, boxes, and shelves to calm our environment. Putting things in bins just means that our stuff is now semi-controlled. It doesn't address the core issues you have with collecting or being unable to part with the items, which means you will just continue in with more of the same. To make a difference in your home, you must purge the clutter- and not just a small amount. You must declutter enough so that it is easy to assign places to every single one of your possessions.

Start small, commit to developing a morning and evening routine of washing the dishes and tossing trash.
I know it seems too small a thing to matter, but when the dishes are done, life doesn't seem quite as overwhelming. Seeing the evidence that you accomplished something gives a great boost to your self-confidence.

Then, pull out a timer and work on one drawer, for 10-15 minutes tops.
Stay focused on the one drawer until it's done (even if it takes a couple of days, it's ok- progress is still happening!). I recommend starting in the kitchen- So much of our lives take place in the kitchen when it’s under control, life doesn’t seem quite so out-of-control. Keep your focus on it for at least a month before moving on to other areas.
Talk positively to yourself.
When you find negative self-talk going on, change it to reaffirm yourself:
"I hate dishes" needs to be "I love having dishes done and I am important enough to myself to do them".
And "I don't deserve a nice house" needs to become "I deserve a nice house".
And I know, that when I say this, Tackling the clutter is hard to face when in the midst of depression. But little steps can add up to big accomplishments.

One small focused action every day creates a ripple effect, which will eventually lead to a complete change in your entire home. It is possible, and you can accomplish it!

Home Reset Checklists:
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#nourishingminimalism #depression #clutter #minimalism

[elysianfields]

Your 'before' house was cluttery...yet every photo showed smiling. active, happy kids! And your 'after' house makes for a happier you, too! Rock on Mom! Bravo!!! ;-)

[dellnichols]

By showing your “before” house, which was a very brave and honest thing to do, you relate to so many people that think getting their homes under control is an impossible task. My home was not as cluttered as yours, but there were times I felt many of the things you spoke of - the worst was not feeling comfortable letting people in at times. Then I was able to get more in control of my house, and I’ve never gone back to the way it was. One thing is to realize you aren’t really getting your house in order just for the benefit of being able to have other people over. It’s so you can enjoy your own home every day. Such a stress reducer!

[Kian]

Hey if your reading this, please know that things might be bad and getting worse but I promise you all that things WILL get better if you just keep going and try look at the good things in life. It's very unfair on people like us to go through this and we shouldn't but we are all in this together. Thank you for reading this and have an amazing day ❤❤❤

[loriolsen]

"Morning Me" hates a messy kitchen! When it is time to start breakfast, and I still need to clean up from yesterday's dinner, Morning Me is not happy! I remember that when I look at the kitchen after dinner. Truthfully sometimes I don't care about Morning Me and her needs! But I am still working on making this a permanent habit. I am getting there though!

[sandiconley]

Thank you! I don't know what else to say. I've been watching organizing and decluttering videos for about 3 years. Until now I haven't gotten what I was needing from them. Depression is such a big part of it and anxiety. I'm fighting it so hard. Instead of decluttering I go spend money. I don't have money or room for the crafts I make. I just discovered you a couple of days ago but I have to say you are getting to the roots of my problem. Thank you!

[rachelhanenburg]

Your “before” photos help me feel like you know what worked, not just for you, but for you when your house looked like mine. ❤️

[annaalm]

Hey Rachel, everything you say is so true!!! What I loved most in this video was the sentence "I love having the dishes done" instead of "I hate doing the dishes" :)))

[Nyx]

Thank you the video. My favorite parts that I want/need to remember:
7:35 "Anything worth doing is worth doing partially."
"Any step forward, no matter how small, is still a step forward."
7:52 "When the dishes are done, life doesn't seem quite as overwhelming."
"Seeing the evidence that you accomplished something gives a great boost to your self-confidence."
8:25 "It doesn't matter if it's going slowly. It's still progress"

[marieboyce]

I have had MS for 20 years with debilitating fatigue. I eventually learned to also use the method of telling myself to just get “something” done each day so that I wouldn’t get so overwhelmed and depressed. Also, just taking the extra few minutes to put things away helps in the long run.

[annyarman]

Thanks for your encouragement! You described me exactly! I'm right smack in the middle of this. I'm trying to get rid of the clutter and have 1 room done, but I have much more. My depression and anxiety did get worse as my house got worse and I even felt it happening, but I still let it go. I'm thankful that you are posting videos to encourage me to get my house decluttered.

[ekokusumo]

Clean after usage, and return to its place. It makes us feel good. Every time.

[Jo-hello]

Great tips Rachel! And Thank you for addressing the link between clutter and anxiety and depression. For me, minimalism isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about having greater mental capacity for what matters most in my life and energy too. I want more of those things and less stress, worry, overwhelm, fatigue, negative thoughts etc. I really appreciate you making this video xx

[judyblueyes]

The ironic thing about clutter is that it usually starts out with incredibly good intentions by going "therapy retail" shopping...it does feel sooo good to go out and shop and find great deals and get out of your depression for a short time....but eventually it more often than not(for me)leads to more depression plus guilt on top of that because I have spent money on unnecessary items that were not really needed not to mention nowhere to put it!! Dollar Tree is my number one bad habit....I love to watch the haul channels and it's a challenge to find the wishlist items everyone is hunting for....where do they put everything??Lol....like you said, It doesn't happen overnight, but thank you for the encouragement to try to start living clutter free!!✌️💜☮️💜

[brandywiNe]

Everything you said in this video is spot on!! I am experiencing all of this right now 😫 I'm so overwhelmed and don't know where to start 😫🥺😔

[ineedmyteaable]

I can not believe I didn't find you earlier. It's been only 4 days since you were a suggested video. This was no accident. If I would have known about you a year ago, I wouldn't have wasted my time watching anyone else. You really get it. I dont feel I'm watching a obsessively clean person who decided to make a YouTube channel. I feel I'm watching a person who really understands it. Thank you so much.

[wholovestrees]

We cannot acquire enough coordinated baskets, boxes and bins to put things in to give us the calm environment we long for." Thank you for explaining why I still feel weird when I buy these.

[MelindaPlainandSimple]

The stress and anxiety over dishes is the stuff of nightmares! Literally! I've been making sure my dishes are done and put away before I go to bed every night for awhile now. I haven't always done that, but since I decluttered all but 2 place settings for my husband and I, it has been easy. No stress. No pressure. So I was surprised when I woke up in the middle of the night last night with this overwhelming feeling of anxiety mixed with relief that my dishes were done. In that moment, I knew if that day's dishes had not been done, I would not be able to face them the next day and they would go undone forever. I was aware that I had done them, but the thought of my dishes ever piling up again filled me with such anxiety. Of course, I only have a few dishes, so how bad could it get, but in the middle of the night, reason wasn't part of the equation.

[aidenhesters]

Thank you. I’ve been struggling for over 6 years with this. I have 2 boys and a husband. I can’t put into words why and how I feel. I thought something was wrong with me, that this was an only me problem. Thank you.

[francoisefenner]

So true. Anything is better than nothing. Thank you.

[wife]

"Life at Home in the Twenty-first Century" is a great book. It shows the whole US has a cluttter problem. Thanks for your post.