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Scientists have discovered an additional benefit of cleaning the house
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Cleaning the house is not always associated with pleasant emotions – and completely in vain. Employees of the American research center for mental disorders have proven that in just twenty minutes of intensive cleaning in the house a person is able to prevent the development of stress and depression. Moreover, it does not matter whether a person likes this activity or not: psychological satisfaction is achieved by the intensity of physical activity and psychological satisfaction from the final result – a clean apartment.
About five hundred Americans took part in the study. Volunteers cleaned a residential building for twenty minutes, after which they were asked to undergo special testing. The information obtained as a result of testing after cleaning was compared with the data that was taken from the participants before the study.
What was discovered as a result of the experiment?
- 60% of those who took part in the study showed a noticeable improvement in the state of their nervous system, and an assessment of their mental balance indicated stable well-being. The participants themselves noted that they felt a surge of energy, an increase in mood and moral satisfaction.
- In 40% of the participants, scientists found no significant differences in mental state.
However, experts have concluded that physical activity combined with a positive result from the work expended in many cases leads to an improvement in the functioning of the human nervous system. This property can be actively used for the rehabilitation of people prone to depressive states and regular stress.
The experiment did not stop there: the researchers asked the participants to get rid of household items and things that they had not used for a long time. This situation left many volunteers stumped: they could hardly bring themselves to throw away things that they had become accustomed to for many years. Some of the participants admitted that they even had some kind of pathological dependence on such things – even if they were old and completely useless.
In some people, psychologists have discovered a real phobia - even to the point of obsession. They were unable to remove unnecessary things from their home.
However, psychotherapists are convinced that periodic house cleaning from all unnecessary and unused things leads to psychological unloading of the nervous system, simultaneously putting the psyche in order. If you regularly get rid of old household items, you can clear additional space in your memory, eliminating memories and emotional associations associated with certain things.
Thus, energetic and intensive cleaning helps to calm down and stabilize the functional processes in the nervous system.
In the near future, psychotherapists predict that the study will be repeated. It will involve not Americans, but representatives of European countries and China.
The research data was provided by RIA Federal Press World news.
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