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Cleaning, organizing your home could improve your mental health

Some people use cleaning to manage stress

DETROIT – Many people love having a clean, organized space. Cleaning your home may have some positive impact on your mental health too.

Cleveland Clinic Psychologist Dawn Potter said some people find cleaning is a good way to manage stress.

“A lot of people when they are faced with other problems that maybe they can’t address at the time or they’re just kind of overwhelmed they find that cleaning helps them restore a sense of control,” Potter said.

Read: How to find motivation, drive after the COVID pandemic

Research shows that messy, disorganized spaces can negatively impact mental health and wellbeing. One study suggests people with cluttered homes were more likely to report depressed moods.

Potter said when everything around you is neat and tidy there are fewer distractions and you can better focus on the task at hand. She said tidying up can take your mind off of something that’s out of your control and making you anxious.

“Cleaning produces a tangible result that we can see and feel. And we can look at it afterwards and be like, ‘Oh, that looks so great.’ So we get that satisfaction of doing something meaningful,” Potter said.

If you’re inspired to organize but aren’t sure where to begin, Potter recommends creating a plan of attack and just getting started.

She also advises setting reasonable expectations and not pressuring yourself to get everything done at once.



About the Authors
Kimberly Gill headshot

You can watch Kimberly Gill weekdays anchoring Local 4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and streaming live at 10 p.m. on Local 4+. She's an award-winning journalist who finally called Detroit home in 2014. Kim has won Regional Emmy Awards, and was part of the team that won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in 2022.

Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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