Clutter at Home: Why Chaos Also Affects Our Mental Health

If I told you that the number of items scattered on your desk can change the way you feel, would you believe me? It's not just a matter of aesthetics or discipline: clutter in the home has a tangible impact on our psyche, one that is more profound than we realize. We tend to think that being organized is just a matter of character, a personal predisposition: there are “messy” people and there are “neat” people, as if it were a simple preference. But this view is too superficial. In reality, our surrounding environment is in constant dialogue with our brain. Psychotherapist Stefanie Stahl puts it this way: “External chaos often reflects internal chaos.” This is not just a metaphor. Psychologist Lukas Klaschinski relates that, over his years of practice, he has seen people literally paralyzed by the clutter in their homes: a woman from Berlin, a mother of two, described her living room as looking like a bomb had gone off. Every time she tried to tidy up, she felt overwhelmed and guilty, and ended up avoiding the room. But after weeks, when she managed to tidy up even just one part of the room, she noticed that she could breathe more easily. It wasn't just a matter of free space; it was the feeling of regaining control over something that had seemed unmanageable. An interesting fact: studies show that people who live in very cluttered environments have higher levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. Chaos is not neutral—our body experiences it as a continuous low-level emergency. Yet, the solution is not to become neat freaks. Stahl warns against perfectionism: those who always try to have everything under control often hide deep-seated insecurities and end up even more stressed. What really helps is finding a balance: acknowledging your own chaos threshold, accepting that your home will never be perfect, but consciously choosing which spaces to tidy up to feel that something is under control. Is there a corner of your home that, when it’s in order, makes you feel more at ease? Maybe that's where you should start. One point that these experts don't address enough is the social dimension of clutter: in homes where chaos reigns, people often tend to avoid inviting friends or relatives, which fuels feelings of isolation and discomfort, which in turn can make the situation worse. In other words, clutter not only reflects but also amplifies our emotional struggles. Clutter is not just a matter of space, but a dialogue between the inside and the outside: when you choose to tidy up even just a small corner, you are already changing something in your mind. If this idea resonates with you, on Lara Notes you can tap I'm In – it's not a heart; it's your way of saying: This perspective is now yours. And if tomorrow you find yourself telling someone about how clutter affects emotions and relationships, on Lara Notes you can mark the conversation with Shared Offline: it's your way of saying that that exchange mattered. This Note comes from Stern and has saved you at least six minutes compared to the original article.