Is there a link between the clutter in your life and your health?
I know that clutter makes me stressed- especially when I can't find things that are important (keys, bills, etc). Higher stress levels do contribute to weaker immunity- I even just read a blurb in the paper that stress makes you fat! And it wasn't from eating more- stress hormones alone can cause fat cells to multiply. Yikes! If that isn't one big reason to simplify....

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I think clutter was making me depressed. I have felt so much better (emotionally speaking) ever since I decluttered like a maniac. I will never go back to a cluttered home.

I'm naturally prone to anxiety, and when my house is messy/cluttered I can tell. I simply cannot relax in my own home. Problem is, dh doesn't have a problem with it at all! He can relax with underwear on the floor and dishes under the bed!

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like Kim said, I am also prone to anxiety (and panic attacks, ugh!) and when my house is messy/cluttered, which is pretty much all the time, I just cannot relax and enjoy ANYTHING. I am edgy and agitated about everything all the time, I don't want to cook in my messy kitchen, I can't relax at night in my bed to read, etc.

But when my house is really messy, I get so overwhelmed I don't want to do ANYTHING.

I definitely can see how it can lead to health problems. Not only anxiety, but depression, headaches, fatigue, loss of sleep, weight gain, etc.

I think that when you have a cluttered home you tend to have a cluttered mind also. I do. I'm working on it but it definitely stresses me out. I beat myself up emotionally thinking that I'm a bad wife or mom. I'm also a perfectionist so while I'm wanting something to be perfect other areas in the home get neglected. I've cleaned my kitchen floors with a toothbrush around the baseboards and totally neglected the fact that the living room had toys strewn everywhere. I am now seeing where I've went wrong with house cleaning and am fixing it slowly. My dh and kids don't care. They leave clothes and dishes anywhere and everywhere so that really doesn't help much.

I am stressed and have gained weight right in the belly. I look at myself and wonder when is it going to get better. This year I've been sick more than usual and disgusted with my home and myself. I'm not a total slob because I've seen worse homes. But yes I do feel there is a link between clutter, sickness and depression.