From chaos to calm: How clutter impacts the mind

Clutter is a constant background noise that can drain your energy and muddle your mind. While excessive clutter can signal deeper mental health struggles like hoarding disorder, this article explores the kind of everyday chaos that builds up in modern homes and how it affects well-being.

The dictionary defines clutter as a collection of things lying about in an untidy state. When clutter and the collection of it moves beyond simple messiness into something dysfunctional or impairing, specialists call it hoarding disorder. Research shows that hoarding symptoms correlate with trait anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, it is difficult to know whether the hoarding causes the symptoms, or the symptoms cause the hoarding.

Clutter and overwhelm: A familiar feeling

I know for sure that I feel a horrible sense of overwhelm when I look around my house and there is stuff everywhere. I live with three other people, and naturally, more people equal more clutter. One item left out becomes ten, especially when everyone has the same “I’ll put it away later” mindset. It’s not long before we’ve done that with ten items, multiplied by three, and the house resembles a tipping site – in fact, our local recycling looks far more organised than my house sometimes. Friends and clients often share similar struggles with me. A recent conversation brought this to the forefront – someone feeling overwhelmed by life simply because of the chaos at home caused by a decorating project.

I see a link between clutter and food – many struggle to eat the best foods for their body because of the enormity of reasonably priced processed foods available. When it tastes so good and costs so little it takes a lot of determination to say no.

The psychology of “stuff”

When I was small, my parents would save for a year to buy me the things I wanted, and I would receive them as birthday and Christmas gifts. This was not because they were poor; neither were they rich, but things were less accessible. Nowadays, everywhere I look, there is stuff to buy with pocket money. Interestingly, despite stuff being cheaper, the data shows we spend more in total. This leads to the logical assumption that we either throw away quicker or surround ourselves with more. With ‘stuff’ so cheap and accessible, the clutter problem rears its head again. I remember when my children were toddlers discussing with friends how nipping into the pound shop with the offer of “you can buy anything you want” eases a shopping trip.

I use the word 'stuff' because mostly these things are not ethically produced or necessarily good quality – but as with food, there is a brain process that happens when you buy it, called a shopper’s high.

Our brains evolved to value accumulation – more food meant survival, more materials meant warmth and safety. Today, this survival instinct gets hijacked by cheap, accessible goods. Buying gives us a temporary dopamine hit, especially in anticipation, which fuels the cycle. We still have an innate desire within us to get enough stuff to ensure survival. But as with many of today’s problems, the speed of evolution is slower than the development of technology and unnatural living. What was once adaptive is overwhelming in the age of excess.

Cluttered home, cluttered mind

Unless you're someone who finds it easy to give things away, a build-up of belongings will inevitably lead to clutter. The authors of Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century found that stressful home environments – defined by an overabundance of household objects – negatively impact health and well-being, with low mood increasing as the day goes on.

I often notice a similar kind of clutter in the minds of people who come to see me. They feel confused, overwhelmed, and broken. As we talk, I hear a muddled mind – full of noise, thoughts, and emotional “stuff.” Overstimulation makes it hard to focus. Take a moment to look around you: what kind of visual input are you absorbing?

Clutter often builds up simply because items don’t have a designated place. Some people suggest decluttering until every possession has a ‘home’. When your space feels organised with reduced visual stimulation, it is much easier to find clarity – both in your surroundings and in your mind.

A step toward clarity

If your environment feels out of control, it’s no surprise your mind might too. Start small: create a calm, stimulus-free space where you can regroup. If that’s not possible, try decluttering just one area. And next time you feel the urge to buy, pause and ask – am I chasing a feeling, or fulfilling a need?