If your home is not being cleaned as often as it should, you may wonder what kind of effects a dirty home will have on your health. You may not worry too much that there is little mess here and there or that some things are not as clean as they should be, but is there reason to worry?
We are going to look at some of the long-term health effects that a dirty home creates, and we hope that this information will be helpful to you and may even encourage you to clean more often.
Lack of Sleep
If you have a dirty home, then there is probably a lot of dust building up. That dust gets into the vents and creates a poor quality atmosphere, choking the air and making it difficult to breathe sometimes. Do you ever feel like you need to open a window or door just to get some fresh air? There could be a cleanliness problem that is caused by dust primarily.
If you are breathing dirty air, then you are not going to sleep very well. Numerous studies have shown that dusty homes cause sleepless nights, because the dust and dirt will block your airways. You will have problems breathing normally, so you will suffer from a lack of sleep. You may wake up slightly during the night, having difficulty getting air, and you may need to unclog your airways by blowing your nose or changing your sleep[in position.
If you are not sleeping well, and that continues for days and weeks, then you will see that you have mood changes, a lack of focus, headaches, lethargy, and other symptoms that could be cured simply by getting enough sleep. You will change your body’s sleep patterns and even cause heart problems and a shorter lifespan as a result, so this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
High Anxiety Levels
Did you know that your anxiety is partially connected to how messy or clean your house is? It is possible that you can give yourself more anxiety by not cleaning in your home. If you are able to keep the place clean and tidy and well organized, though, then your anxiety levels will decrease.
This is something to keep in mind if you suffer from anxiety attacks, stress, and other issues that affect your mental state. If you find interior house cleaning that works for you and use their services to keep your house looking tidy, you should notice lower stress levels. However, if you don’t clean your house very often, then the disorganized mess can increase stress and cause your anxiety to spike.
This can become a bigger problem over time. What you may notice is that you become anxious and stressed out very easily. This could be attributed to having a messy house and not being able to find where things are. Your brain likes things to be organized and to look neat and tidy. When you spend extended periods of time in areas that are not very tidy and that are full of disorganization, your brain can start to feel stressed out.
Pests Out of Control
Another harmful effect caused by a messy house is that you may have a pest problem on your hands that you simply cannot handle. Pests love messy houses, because that kind of environment usually gives them lots of places to hide and can often provide them with plenty of food to eat as well.
If you are not cleaning your house for a while, then the pest problem can grow. Your home will become a welcoming environment for rats, roaches, and all sorts of creatures, including the dreaded bedbugs. If you don’t want that to happen, then you should clean your home regularly.
Pests do not like clean homes because these are spaces where it is harder to find food. These tend to be spaces where there are fewer hiding places as well. But when you let your house go and you don’t do much housework, pests may start to feel very comfortable. This is why we would recommend cleaning your home at least a little every day and cleaning it very well once a week. If you do that, pests will be less likely to feel at home and will be more likely to find somewhere else to live.
Increased Depression
We mentioned earlier that your brain loves places that are neat and organized. If your home is dirty, that can affect your brain in a lot of ways. It can hurt your mental health to the point where it causes or at least contributes to depression.
How a messy home can lead to depression is complicated. It could be that the heightened stress and anxiety caused by the mess makes your cortisol levels spike, which can induce a depressive mood. The depressive state could also be made worse by how difficult it is to find items.
Living in a dirty home is not good for depression, and people who are depressed tend to not clean. However, if you start to clean up the mess, that can help to chase away the depression a bit. You can start to feel a sense of accomplishment, and you can get your blood flowing and heart pumping more, which helps to clear your head and make you feel physically better.
If you can establish a routine of cleaning your home, that can really help with depression. It gives you something to do each day, and it keeps you occupied so that you don’t think about your depressing thoughts so much. It also helps you to maintain a level of physical health that is good for you and that helps to drive away depression.
These are a few of the long-term health effects of not cleaning your home and what you can do to turn things around. We hope that you get some encouragement from this article and that it helps you to make good choices about keeping a clean home.