A messy room can be a sign of depression or another mental health issue. Clutter affects your mood and can cause more anxiety or stress. Your child can get caught in a cycle of messiness that worsens their mental health and vice versa.
Messiness can actually be a sign of creativity and freedom. Or it may mean a teen is busy with school, hobbies, and socializing, and hasn't made time to clean their messy bedroom. However, a messy room can also be an outward sign of feeling disorganized or overwhelmed.
Research from 2020 has shown a link between messy rooms and depression. Signs of depression may include a lack of motivation, leading to an unkempt space.
Is a messy house a sign of mental illness, you might ask. Psychology says that messiness can indeed be a sign that a person is having trouble. Just like someone who is suffering from OCD and has to control everything, being a messy person might show that they are dealing with depression or some other mental illness.
A study by the University of Minnesota suggests, that the messy desk of geniuses is actually linked to their intelligence. If you don't spend much time cleaning and organizing everything around you, your mind is obviously occupied with more important stuff.
Messy people are spontaneous and flexible
Because they thrive in chaos, messy people can roll with the punches. They don't freak out if something changes because they're used to commotion. These traits help them out in their personal life and they're also extremely valuable in the workplace.
adjective. used about people who do not keep things tidy.
Now, science has gone one-step further and proved that those who flourish in messy environments are considered to be happier in life.
Messy people are smarter
However, almost all of the time you left it messy. Well, scientists discovered that this was a sign that you probably have a higher IQ than the average Joe. We are not kidding. This claim is backed by the findings of scientists from the University of Minnesota.
The messy house syndrome (Diogenes syndrome) is present when, owing to a disordering of the personality structure, a person is unable to keep order, for example, in the household or his finances. Such persons are also referred to as "messies".
While extreme messiness can be the result of depression or behavioral issues, extreme organization can be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Teens with OCD experience intense anxiety if anything in their room or their surroundings is out of place.
Known as Faster decision-makers and adaptable, creatives automatically save the energy of organizing things to prioritize what matters most. A study from the University of Minnesota came in defence of messy people to prove that a cluttered desk promotes creative thinking and stimulates new ideas.
You might feel more comfortable in a messy room because for you it might be a controlled mess. You know? You know where things are and it's structured in a way only you can understand. Unlike outside of there where it feels more like a messy world where nothing's makes sense.
Psychologists correlate cleanliness and mental ease. It has been found that the idea of cleanliness and tidiness induce us to be more ethical, whereas, on the contrary if we feel ourselves in a neglected environment, a feeling of frustration can lead us to lie and cheat.
A slob is someone who's messy or lazy. Tuck your shirt in and wash the dishes, you slob! You may think of your sister as a slob if she never cleans up after herself, leaving crumbs all over the house and clothes all over her room. It's a derogatory term, though, so think twice before you call her a slob out loud.
“Cluttering is another behavior typical in folks with ADHD. Leaving items out as visual cues is a common way of compensating for an unreliable memory or inadequate time-management system, but to the untrained eye it can resemble hoarding,” she says.
In most cases, this clutter is directly linked to traumatic events. Clutter could stem from the fear of letting go. This would be especially the case if a person grew up during or shortly after a time of war when people did not have much and had to use everything they had until it fell apart.
Adults may display sleep problems, increased agitation, hypervigilance, isolation or withdrawal, and increased use of alcohol or drugs. Older adults may exhibit increased withdrawal and isolation, reluctance to leave home, worsening of chronic illnesses, confusion, depression, and fear (DeWolfe & Nordboe, 2000b).
A traumatized person can feel a range of emotions both immediately after the event and in the long term. They may feel overwhelmed, helpless, shocked, or have difficulty processing their experiences. Trauma can also cause physical symptoms. Trauma can have long-term effects on the person's well-being.
Adults with ADHD may find it difficult to focus and prioritize, leading to missed deadlines and forgotten meetings or social plans. The inability to control impulses can range from impatience waiting in line or driving in traffic to mood swings and outbursts of anger.
ADHD, also called attention-deficit disorder, is a behavior disorder, usually first diagnosed in childhood, that is characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and, in some cases, hyperactivity.
Behavioral/psychological: Clutter caused by depression, attention deficit disorder, low self-esteem or lack of personal boundaries. Time/life management: Clutter caused by the need for better planning. Of these, the behavioral/psychological-driven clutter is the hardest to solve.
According to research, there is a link between PTSD and hoarding. When one is exposed to trauma, people build guards around themselves and everything around them. If they start losing the stuff or declutter, they feel a void inside of them, so it's tougher for them than other people.