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A change in personal habits may be a warning sign of depression. When people stop caring about personal hygiene, their appearance, or their environment, this may reflect a profound change in their attitude towards themselves and their lives. In some cases, compulsive cleaning is a symptom that signals that a someone is trying desperately to get control of his or her life. It is always worthwhile to pause and reflect about what is going on. A friend, family member, or professional can provide some valuable input.

Before the great feminist invasion of the workplace, women were generally house proud. Their home was their workplace, their kingdom, and their identity. When looking after a household was labelled less fulfilling than working at a job with a salary, women were less willing to do it. If they pursued careers, they had much less time. They expected their spouses to take an equal role in housekeeping patrol. That's reasonable enough. However, men were neither conditioned or trained to take on this role. Most were unwilling to help, and even those who were willing were often incapable of getting the job done.

Today's women are often more competent in the workplace than the home front. Their mothers were busy with jobs as well, and did not take the time to train their children in the fine arts of cleaning up, organizing, and scheduling household tasks. As a result, an increasing number of houses have become abodes of chaos. Too much stuff, too much confusion, too little attention to detail. Living in such an environment can have profound emotional effects. Who wants to come home to a place that looks like a garbage dump?

Most of us experience a lifting of our spirits when our environment is put in order. But where to start? There are a number of options. A cleaning team, a professional declutterer, or even a sympathetic mother or grandmother. Cleaning up requires an investent in time, money and sweat, as well as letting go of obsolete items and the memories associated with them.

It is a worth-while experiment to arrange a clean-up binge, even for a single room, and observe the emotional effects. Do you feel uplifted, more calm, more optimistic, or more in control when things are clean and tidy? If you do, it's worth working on a coherent plan to get the house cleaned up and keep it that way. Who knows? Perhaps the elimination of physical clutter will lead to a clean-up of emotional clutter as well. It won't be easy, but it's a better option than mind-altering drugs.

Learn more about this author, Christine G..
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