ABOVE: Cluttered confines can contribute to seasonally-affected mood disorders.
As I write this, gold and red leaves are falling on a sunny, cloudless day. But by the time you read this, we’re all more likely to be soaking in the beginning of five months of gunmetal-grey sog.
Not that I’m complaining, but just in case, I’m taking my 1,000 IUs of Vitamin D in hopes it will ward off Mr. Seasonal Depression from a-knocking on my noggin. Too many people I know suffer from some sort of blues as the ho-ho-holiday season approaches.
However, I do have to fight the urge to lay low during these dark days — like my dog — or move on to warmer climes until the days get brighter and longer, like the first peoples of yore or the snowbird retirees of today. There remains the small problem of paying the bills, so most of us have to face the typical seasonal triggers: stress, overwork, dwindling daylight hours, lack of physical activity, over-eating or the guilt-inducing so-very-merry Christmas-shopping campaigns. There’s also one overlooked trigger: a cluttered homefront.
During the warmer months we’re more likely to turn our backs on our own indoors, but when the gloomy weather sets in, it’s harder to ignore the mounting problems in our homes. It might be a too-dark interior or a dysfunctional kitchen, but most likely it’s the accumulation of too much stuff that oppresses and depresses. It hits when you come home after a hard day’s work; what used to be your refuge, your pride and joy, has become a sort of giant storage unit crammed with stacks of paperwork, mementoes, clothes, magazines, dishes, photos, what-have-you. It’s all too much to even entertain the idea of entertaining and soon you’re so ashamed you hope no one will stop by. You know you’ve lost the war when the stuff is no longer a collection of individual units requiring a keep-it/get-rid-of-it decision but a force that’s overwhelmed you to the point of exhaustion. That state of mind leads to paralysis and the stuff continues to pile up.
Clutter-related depression is real, and a major subject on numerous sites like MyDepressionConnection.com where clutter/depression-sufferers write about feeling small and boxed in by all their stuff.
Like any wellness program, combating clutter requires a plan. Next week I set out some structure for clearing the decks — and the mind — to make way for a social holiday season at home and a bright, hopeful new year.
