Cathartic cleaning and decluttering.

Everyone seems to agree that is emotionally cathartic to clean, decluttering, throw away unused junk, etc.

Does anyone know the psychology behind it - why should that be psychologically more significant than other household tasks?

I think it is because when your house is clean, you feel good. when you feel good it raises your self esteem.

I've been systematically going through everything in my house and shredding/donating everything I don't need. I've got a two bedroom house down to a small U-Haul trailer.

Yes, it is cathartic. I've divested myself of the past and have only what I need to survive. I could lose everything and easily start over because in the process I've shed materialism. I have nothing of value except the home itself, my car, a few boxes of family photos, and a ring.

Now I don't care what happens to me. The impact of the loss will be minor.

How did I get to this point? I went into psychosis and was denied access to everything personal during five hospitalizations. I was so heartbroken over material goods that I just snapped and the bond was broken.

With the loss of my cats, whom I pined for all that time, my heart truly died.

Getting rid of everything, at that point, was easy. I was ready to die. I still am.

I. Am. Prepared.

You have to make the bed, do the dishes, most other household tasks often or things look "bad". It's like antidepressants, they don't make you happy, they just make you "even"/not depressed. Most household tasks are small and repetitive so there is not much bang for the buck but if you let things slide, they all get out of balance and you get mess everywhere and clutter, the "doing"/experiential equivalent to depression. Action is the antidepressant that clears up the whole thing back to "even" until the next time you fail to keep up and slip into the black hole of household chaos, muahahaha. . . cough cough

Neither my wife nor I are savers. If we don't see a more-or-less immediate use for something... out it goes! I've disposed of allot of stuff that I wish I had back now. But, at the time, it sure felt liberating to get rid of it! I can't say I've ever run across a psychological explanation for why this can feel so exhilarating... But I know it can!

I cant stand clutter it makes me crazy.. Every few months I go through my closet and toss out more stuff ..I just dont want extra stuff around.

My husband on the other hand hes more the " norm" he has stuff .. Its a careful balancing act for me to not toss out all his stuff also ... Maybe its part of my Bipolar .. i dunno ..

Everyday its the same chores.. I am one of the " I cant sleep if there are dishes in the sink " kinda people.

Mentally I feel better when things are in order.

We acquired our stuff in the past and keep It because we anticipate using it in the future. Our stuff is always yammering about the past and nagging about thw future.

You haven't done this yet. When will you do this? Are you going to do this?

This is hotel rooms feel so great and why the best luggage is one shoulder bag.

I was once told = a cluttered house represents a cluttered mind...

To me it seems like once you've "set your house in order" you have prepared your workspace and now you can take action. Thus is relates to effectiveness, motivation, and getting down to life, things that are hard to do when you are in a poor mental state. Also, letting go of things, including the past associations they may represent, suggests freedom and an opportunity to make changes, both things associated with a sense of well being.

But, no, I don't know for sure the psychology behind it. Or why making the bed every day is associated with being less depressed. (Just a weird thing I heard one time.) I guess that's kind of like being willing to take those baby steps and get moving with the day. That the do-er deserves a pleasant environment. And that taking any action may give the momentum to take further actions.

I don't know. But I can sure speculate.

That's pretty much the way it works for me. Also or maybe this is just repeating the above posts but I look at the mes and the clutter and my mind says "that's your head symbolically... and you can fix that at least"

I think decluttering and simplifying is cathartic in two ways:
(1) It gets rid of a "big pile of stuff" that reminds you of overwhelm all the time;
(2) It's empowering and inherently motivating to see a visual difference in your living space due to a conscious effort you have made. It's like a gesture of defiance to feelings of helplessness, maybe?

I wouldn't know the effect of clutter clearing because I am a hoarder and live in squalor.
I even sunk to the depths of humiliation of being on a hoarding show but the "organizer" was not all that helpful except to help discard obvious trash and clean things. There was no real help for actual organizing of my possessions and I cannot locate many items that the "organizer" stashed into boxes/closets for out of sight, out of mind but that hasn't helped my house to be more functional.

Dear Yoda,
Sorry to hear the help you received wasn't efficient enough to get you to a good place.
I am not a hoarder however I do find motivation to keep up with my home much harder now that I live alone. It also includes with preparing, cooking, and cleaning for myself a big effort. I can get the trash into the bags but getting the bin out on the right night,
I am and am not a great organizer.
I 'm also starting to shred, shredding everything thats not relevant for the last 5 years, and still will have boxes of documents. A Disability Box, Medical Box, Tax Box, Bill Box, and it is working. You can come out from this and find your way.

Now that my daughter has been out of the house, married, and now is expecting a baby boy this Nov it is time to reset my life.
I think I'll have a lawn sale and everything left over will go to charity.

I liked a lot of what the other posters said, I like what George said and will use that if a pile comes up.

H.

It is hard to give up "things" when that is all you are left with.

Oh, Yoda, I wish I could come and help you. I love sorting out a workspace. Our place is somewhat cluttered because it's small, but the small piles of stuff are things we're actively using, and the piles are constantly chnaging. Otherwise, out/away it goes.

For me many times other things are more important to me. I like to have things in there place and feel the reward when I "feel like" cleaning. But I'm not overly sensitive to it - my time may be more important doing something else - I do not pressure myself that the house is not tidy too - it's ok - I will get to it when I can.

Was not always like that - my x lived in a lot of clutter. He was OK with that and I fought it and would get angry a lot. Finally a compromise - he could clutter the office. Or if I saw his clutter & it bothered my I would move it to his office. When we would clean the house - he would say: "Now, everything is right in your world".

If I could afford a maid I would not bother to clean - I have other things I want to do.

There is no right answer for everyone.

There are many articles and books about the benefits...

here's one on stress busting:
6 Ways that Cleaning Can Alleviate Stress

and another similar article:

Organization as a Secret Weapon to Better Mental Health

and one from the BBC

BBC NEWS | Health | Cleaning 'improves mental health'

There was a time when my impulsiveness took control of my unorganized mind then. Today, declutter is cathartic and helps keep my mind clear. For me, provoked stressors set my mania rolling even when medicated. So, if I can be proactive to empower myself to prevent cycles, I'm in.

Thank you for those resources.

and when i felt good and my self-esteem was rising, my mother would slap me upside the head - not hard, just enough to make me feel bad, cuz as she said, she didnt want me to get a big head, cuz then no one would like me. So lets keep that self -esteem LOW!!!

Hoarding is one of the most intractable issues ts confront - ie they cant fix it!

Well ideally you feel good when your house is clean...

And I have to admit much of the time my room being full of clutter bothers me I just leave, doesn't really solve the problem...I don't know just seems i can't really keep things organized and clean, and of course my clothes always end up everywhere since I am terrible about putting them away after washing them so end up with a big pile of clean and dirty clothes in a laundry basket....and then there are times I clean like hell....though I admit a couple of those times where due to recreational use of adderall.

I used to keep a very "clean" and organized house and when we moved and built a barn I kept that very clean and organized too, even the paddocks had to be clean. Since I stood there and saw so much damaged, I got so I could not keep up and I had been in the middle of redoing my kitchen and another room, and that has been frozen and messy. My husband clutters and I used to keep up with that, but that fell by the wayside too. I sit in this room with my computer and there is a mess of all kinds of files from my lawsuit that everytime I even think of trying to organize somehow, my brain just turns off and disassociates. Gradually my life got to be all about the damaged animals, dealing with the lawyer who was mentally declining and trying to make enough to pay on the debt my neighbor created and waiting for some kind of resolve 7 years and still waiting. Then it took time to find a T and try to find a way to pay him too so I can understand this thing called PTSD that just set in and took over. I have lost my sense of appreciating and caring for like I used to, I am far away from that person I "used to be" somehow.

It "used to be" cathartic when I cleaned but my drive to "actually do" has left my brain somehow. I used to wake up ready to go out and greet my ponies and then tend to my projects, I always had projects but then, too much sadness, too much loss and then "me" was lost. I know that being treated like I had no right to be so upset in so many ways just pretty much hit that "caring" area very hard. I think that no matter how much I tried to care, whatever I built up just got wiped out one too many times.

I find cleaning/decluttering to be emotionally very uplifting. I despise a dirty home, so I am constantly very depressed because my wife is a slob/semi-hoarder.

I don't know what to do with her anymore...

I think it is respectful to consider the partner's values. There is compromise that should be discussed. Many really do not know how to organize well - it's a skill that develops from a young age. Most are not being lazy or inconsiderate. I work with children who do not organize well - they do not clean their room because most really do not know how to.. not to piss off their parents. Those childern grow into adults.

Organization is a fundemental skill that is learned or not. Does not excuse someone for being inconsiderate. I use to get angry about my x not keeping things kept up. Finally, I gave my x the room he could clutter - and when I saw his clutter and it bothered me...I'd move it to that room. No need to waste energy being angry. When company came over - he was the great cook (I can barely boil water - I would not want him to be mad that I did not acquire that skill) - I cleaned.

I used to clean when company was coming over. For some reason I felt like my house was a reflection of me. My x used to say to me...They are coming over to see you not the house. And I would clean when I was upset. It helped to get my aggressions out!