Do you think poor housekeeping has anything to do with depression?

When I was young, in my 20s I was a serious neat freak. Now it's an effort to do anything. I'm in my 40s, two times divorced, and it's all I can do to take care of 4 pets and keep the place decent looking. I know I am a slob. I am embarrassed to have unfamiliar people into my home. What would be a good place to start, a plan? I have been diagnosed with severe depression, so don't give smart answers.

Make yourself a schedule and start just as soon as you can,
First bath, next dress neatly for the day. Next start by making up your bed, then fix breakfast, eat and then wash up your dishes. Make a day to launder, a day to mop, a day to vacuuming, a day to dust etc etc. Soon you will have things caught up and you can enjoy your home and invite some people over. Take a day to rest and enjoy yourself. On Monday start your routine over. Don't have to do it all in 1 day but keep doing the things on a set day, and keep moving forward.

Yes,severe depression causes everything to be more of a struggle,including keeping on top of cleaning and tidying. I live with depression and I find keeping the room I rent in a shared house tidy hard so I can imagine having a whole house to care for is even worse! The mistake I've made in the past when I've had really low spells is not asking for help and letting things get on top of me.

If you've got a close relative or friend you trust perhaps you can ask them to come over and help you with tidying your place. You could eat together, listen to music, or watch a dvd after so its a sociable thing too and wont feel degrading for you. Im sure they'd be pleased that you trust them enough to ask them, and Im sure you'd help them out if they needed it! Or if you can afford to why not get someone in for a couple of hours a week to do the bulk of the work that you find most draining.

Dont feel like you have to go through everything alone.

Yes. I work in mental health and that's one of the things they look at.

I'm also diagnosed with depression and I'm a terrible slob if my wife doesn't keep me in line. My house was a disaster before I got married, but I guess it's more culturally acceptable for man to be messy, isn't it?

All I can say is stay on your treatment and talk to your doctor if you don't think your medication is helping. If the issue about the house cleaning is bothering you, talk to your doctor about that too.

Just add a little work to your house day to day until its spot-less and you will gain the feel of accomplishment and the depression will be pushed out. Trust me I learned all this in med- school. Also are you on any ant-depressant medication? If so continue to use them if not disregard everything I said about the medication. Don't push your self to the max, just slowly add to cleaning your house even if it takes a month or two it gives you practice and pretty soon you will never need to feel the need to be depressed again.

It's a result of depression (of course I'm not saying if you have messy home you are depressed.) But yeah it's a result of depression in some cases. For instance i suffer from depression during the summer when I have less to do, and i see that even though i have plenty of time to clean my house i have no urge to because I just feel like crap. However, when I'm attending classes again, and i have less time on my hands I feel more productive, causing me to shake my depression, and I notice that I'm willing to do more around the house. So I wouldn't go and say that your depression is brought on by a messy home. Hope this helped!

Yes. A friend of my family is extremely unhealthy (diabetic, very overweight, and just lost his wife of 30+ years) and depressed and you wouldn't believe the state of his house. Empty cans of food, wrappers, clothes EVERYWHERE, food left out on the counters, floors stained, oven crusted over - it's almost a health hazard. I think that depression can cause apathy and lack of motivation. And once the house gets messy, that just depresses the person even more. Cleaning feels like a hopeless and futile endeavor.

Buy cleaning supplies like extra-strength garbage bags, bleach, sponges, Windex. That'll help put you in the cleaning spirit. Clean one room at a time over several days as to not overwhelm yourself. You can do this and you'll feel SO much better once it's done.

yes, youre very right. The cleanliness of your house reflects on your mental state of mind. My mom has battled depression from an unhappy marriage and in her house can hardly c the floor. But however, you may find that if u cleaned your house, u would feel much happier and less ashamed of yourself. I listen to music to get me motivated and I tell u, cleaning my house is like therapy. Throwing out old things I never use realy helps, too. Go thru your closet as well and throw out everything u havent worn in a year. You will feel oh so much better!

It makes sense that if you are depressed it is hard to motivate yourself to clean up or do more than the minimum. Are you on medication? Maybe you need a new one. Talk to your doctor. The hardest part about cleaning is getting started. Sometimes I let myself do just one thing. I tell myself that I can stop after that. Sometimes I stop and sometimes I feel like doing more once I start. Good luck!!

Maybe you are just finding everything too much theses days. you have four pets just one can help make the house a mess. why not try going on a holiday and spend some 'me time'? i think you need it after all that. then maybe when you get back home things wont seem so hard after all. Good luck x

I think so. When you are depressed. You don't feel like doing anything.

I hope you get out of your depression soon. Try to do only a little everyday. It'll help.

probably not in all cases but in yours, it seems to be. but i am a slob and i'm depressed.