Engage in Spring Cleaning for Your Mental Health

Tanya J. Peterson

Spring cleaning is great for your mental health, but for those with mental illness, spring cleaning can be difficult. Get tips on how to clean up this spring if you're battling mental illness at HealthyPlace.

Living in a cluttered, disorganized, or dirty space can be hard on your mental health. It can feel chaotic and make it hard to move and think. Clutter often aggravates symptoms of anxiety, ADHD, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and more. With its warmer temperatures and ability to open windows and move around indoors and outside, spring is a great season to give your living space a fresh start.

That said, the idea of spring cleaning can be overwhelming. Depression zaps motivation and exhausts both mind and body, for example. Anxiety and ADHD can make it difficult to create and follow logical plans. Use these tips to freshen both your home and your mental health this season:

Don’t try to do everything at once. Work in chunks. Identify one room (or one area in a room) and work on only that one project.
Start with what is bothering you the most or begin with what feels easy. If tackling that big mess in the living room would make you feel better, do that. If picking one drawer in the kitchen will encourage you to do another task tomorrow, start there.
Reward yourself. When you complete a task, take a break and enjoy something relaxing or fun.

Spring cleaning not only makes daily living easier, the very act of doing it can be motivating and energizing.

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Today's Question: What are your tips for cleaning and organizing when mental health challenges make it hard? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

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