An "Indulgence" That Saved My Mental Health

Hiring a house cleaner helped clear my head and improved my relationship too!

- JENNIFER BILLOCK

When I was a teen, my bedroom was constantly a mess. Everything was everywhere, save for a tidy little path carved out so I could get to my closet, my desk and my bed. Of course, like most teenagers who don't want to clean their rooms, I told my parents it was "organized chaos": "Yes, know where math my book is it's right there under that leaning tower of socks, papers and magazines!" But let's be real - I didn't really know where anything was. It took me at least 10 minutes to find any item in the turmoil of my bedroom. Also, I was hesitant to have friends over, lest they see how messy I was.

When I moved out on my own, I didn’t want that mess — or that reputation — to follow me. So I turned over a new leaf, creating a very organized life in which everything had its place and it was all easy to find.

Doing that kind of “cleaning 180” isn’t uncommon, says Gail Saltz, M.D., a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the NewYork–Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and host of the podcast How Can I Help? “When you are on your own, you feel more independent and like you are personally responsible for your stuff,” she says. “This catapults many who were messy before to become neat as a reflection of feeling the need to be a successful adult.”