Minimalism and Mental Health

You may have noticed over the past couple of week's I've shared a couple of posts about decluttering, minimalising and organising my house. I've actually really enjoyed doing it and I feel so much more accomplished now that everything is so much better arranged and put together. It's been a lot of hard work and time but for me at least it's been completely rewarding and satisfying.

Today, I thought I'd quickly touch upon a couple of things I have been thinking about having minimalised my bedroom and bathroom. A lot of it is to do with my new found mindset but most importantly, mental health. 

Mental health is a level of psychological well-being. It is defined as a "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment". From the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life, create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. I would just like to mention that if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, be sure to seek help.

Clutter I really do think has a lot to do with your mental state. Given that I have a slight obsessive compulsive disorder, I really like things to be organised and having not lived in my mum's house permanently for over 3 years there is a lot of stuff that I just haven't used for years. 

In a way I think my organisation and desire for everything to have a place and always be in the right place is a part of control. I like to be in control of my life at all times. I like to be prepared for things and have a very clear schedule that is planned in advance. I like to know what I'm doing at all times, in all parts of my life and organisation is simply a part of that. 

I think when you have a lot of clutter around you and in your environment it can become very overwhelming and almost claustrophobic. It can seem almost unbearable at times when things are everywhere because there isn't a place for it to go and sometimes that can encroach on your mental health. When there is that clutter in your life, it can clutter your thoughts and your mind. 

Having now minimalised the spaces that are mine, I feel so much better about myself. I feel a lot less stressed and it really was very therapeutic for me. Both the time spent cleaning, sorting and organising and also the time spent thinking about those old memories and reminiscing yet moving on. 

Do you agree? Share your thoughts below!

Update: I hadn't realised until after writing this post, that Sarah has actually uploaded a video very similar to this so be sure to check it out here and let me know what you think!