For some people an orderly room can be relaxing, because it is a retreat where the chaos that is usual in the world, disappears. For other people, a tidy room is too bland or uninspiring. But just as one person may feel anxious in a cluttered room, another may find the creativity they need.

Normally, disorder is understood as a defect due to laziness or poor organization, since it seems that if you have a messy room it is synonymous with that a person also has a messy mind. Order is a path to success and it seems that disorder is a path to the opposite. But what if you are a little messier than normal? What’s behind the psychology of a messy room?

Your mental health

Having a messy room can be the result of many factors. It may mean that you are busy and have little time to clean and organize. It can be a sign that you have too many things and you have a few left over. Or it may be the result of having young children in the house who are generally not motivated to tidy things up.

But if your room is habitually cluttered, does it say something about the state of your mental health? In some cases, the condition of your room could be related to a psychological disorder. People with  obsessive compulsive disorder , for example, can worry so much about keeping things clean that any disorder causes great anxiety. Or without actually having the disorder, it is typical of perfectionists. In other cases , people accumulate objects to the point that they cannot be separated from even the most trivial objects. Their homes are filled with years and years of useless items, from old newspapers to plastic containers … beginning Diogenes syndrome.

Beyond these and other serious conditions, the psychology behind a cluttered room can depend on a few key factors: whether having clutter in the room is abnormal, whether it is something that really bothers you, or whether it is a sign of something happening to you. .

Different types of clutter

Normal disorder

There are people that disorder is totally normal in their lives because they do not prioritize keeping everything clean and organized, they simply prioritize other things such as spending time with the family or doing other activities. In this case, clutter is just a normal situation. If the house is messy and looks good to you, then it’s more of a sign of your personality and preferences.

Disorder that bothers you

If clutter bothers you and makes you angry then it is a sign that you need to do something about it. Sometimes a disaster can be frustrating, but figuring out where to start and how to tackle the problem can seem overwhelming. This may mean removing a few things, learning new organizational tactics, or getting other members of the household to help with the cleanup.

Clutter as a sign of depression

If you are normally a neat and organized person and suddenly everything falls apart it could be a sign that something is happening in your life. For example, clutter can sometimes be a sign of depression . Depressed people often feel too fatigued or hopeless to keep up with routine household chores.

Depression can also make it harder to stay focused and have the energy to straighten a room. If you make an effort to stay on task, it can be difficult to put in the time and attention that are necessary to keep things neat.  So while you may notice that the room is messy and you intend to clean it up, finding the focus and energy levels needed to get the job done can be difficult or even impossible.

If you think this is happening to you due to depression, talk to your doctor to take control of the situation, he can help you get to the bottom of the matter and develop an action plan to address the problem.