What Your Space Says About Your Mental Health: Oct. 10th Mental Health Day

Friday, Oct 08th, 2021

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Close your eyes, take a good, deep breath and try to recall the messiest roommate you ever had, (sibling, partner or otherwise). How did they leave the bathroom? What did the kitchen look like after they attempted to cook mac ‘n cheese? Who got stuck cleaning up the aftermath?

Open your eyes.

What if I said, that YOU are that messy roommate. You think to yourself, “There’s no way, I would never let things go that far.”

Yet so often, we as humans go that far (without even realizing).

The messy roommate never realizes just how chaotic they are, because in their world things are tidy. Becoming that disheveled roommate in your own waking life can happen even to the best of us, but how does this happen in the first place? In this post, we break down the relationship between our spaces and what they can signify about our mental health.

How The State of Your Space Affects Mood

It can be tricky trying to determine if you or a loved one is truly struggling. A good place to start, however, is by examining the space in which they live.

Is it excessively messy? When was the last time you did laundry? Are you overly obsessed with a certain pillow being in the same place or do your surfaces always need to be spotless?

The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides an incredibly helpful breakdown of the warning signs and symptoms of mental illness. Take note of those that are highlighted below.

  • Excessive sadness
  • Excessive worry or fear
  • Extreme mood changes with big highs and big lows
  • Avoiding friends and social activities
  • Changes in sleeping patterns
  • Overuse of substances like alcohol
  • Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily struggles
  • Concerned with appearance

Things like becoming, “excessively sad,” or “avoiding friends and social activities,” are easy triggers to stay home. Next thing you know, your space becomes your safe haven where anything goes. And if you are avoiding social activity, why go to the trouble of keeping your space presentable for others?

On the flip side, if you become overly, “concerned with appearance,” you can become hyper-focused on cleanliness and the aesthetic of your home. Enter OCD. The Mayo Clinic defines one of the key symptoms of OCD as, “Intense stress when things aren’t orderly…”

If you have the need to wipe the kitchen counter 23 times a day, you may have an underlying mental health struggle driving that habit.

How To Improve Your Mood by Improving Your Space

So now that we recognize the strong connection between our spaces and our emotional wellbeing – where do we go from here?

Here are some tips and tricks for reviving your space and improving your overall energy and mood.

  1. Décor

Self-love is all about embracing what you love. By decorating your home, you honor your space and yourself. It’s a personal way to show that this is my space and I want to love being in it.

Get creative! Create spaces that make you want to be in them and take care of them. Prioritize YOU!

  1. De-Clutter & Organize

We all struggle with a little messiness every now and then – absolutely. The trick is, to find ways that keep your home free from the overwhelming clutter. Integrate organizational tools that work for you and your family. Simple is often best, it doesn’t always have to be a complex or costly solution. Make it work for you and your home.

Cleanliness guru, Marie Kondo, says that, “The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment.”

  1. Lighting

Believe it or not, the lighting in our space dictates our energy and our mood. Good lighting helps us accomplish our work and live comfortable lives.

So feature good lighting sources throughout your home to not only see better but feel better. Our very own Brilli Wind Down lightbulb helps to naturally induce feelings of relaxation and calmness. This bulb even helps to prepare your body for a quality night’s sleep.

Now that’s what we call lighting to set the mood!

This October 10th, World Mental Health Day, take note of you and your loved ones’ spaces and examine what they are really saying. Let’s dare to listen to one another in more unique and perceptive ways. Healthy humans foster healthy living spaces. A better, more loving tomorrow begins with how we care for ourselves and our spaces today.

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