How Your Environment Impacts Your Mental Health

Humans have had to pay close attention and adapt to our surroundings since the beginning of time in order to survive.

This intrinsic awareness forces us to actively seek out secure and comfortable spaces — both in physical and psychological ways. But today, we have control over these environments whether it be our home, car or workspace.

If you haven’t read it yet, we talk about “flow” in our free 10-day online course as a state of operation in which someone feels fully immersed, energized and involved. This enjoyable feeling cannot be forced — but we can set ourselves up to increase the likelihood that it will happen.

This begins by controlling your surroundings. We need a space that addresses our safety and comfort needs, while providing stimulus in both big and small ways. There are certainly macro-level factors that are difficult to change, like pollution, your water supply and natural disasters.

But at the micro level, the spaces that you encounter in your daily life presents myriad opportunities for stress and anxiety to build. At the most basic level, a messy and unorganized environment will negatively affect your mental state where a clean, comfortable and safe environment will help reduce stress and anxiety. Just consider the following:

• Are you more likely to work and be productive when you wear sweatpants or a blazer?
• Do you take pride in coming home to a messy apartment or a clean apartment?
• How do you feel when you pick up a new acquaintance in your car? Embarrassed or apologizing for the mess?
• Do you enjoy being in a room with natural or artificial lights?

Guess what? These are all things you can control and change. When you become aware of your surroundings and realize how specific things affect you, you can start to transform the way you take care of your environment — and ultimately, your wellbeing.

Organizing your surroundings will bring you comfort and a sense of confidence. It will help alleviate concerns and reduce anxiety. It will boost creativity and productivity. When you’re in control of your own space, you can relax and create flow.

Start by making a few small changes like immediately throwing away junk mail, donating those pants you know you haven’t worn in years or cleaning out your car. No matter how insignificant it may seem, organizing pieces of your physical environment for the better can significantly improve your mental health.

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Dr. Daniel Sadigh is a clinical psychologist specializing in Marriage and Family Therapy. He is the founder of Wheel of Wellbeing which helps clients achieve well being by providing tools for living a balanced life. He is also the founder of All in Health Foundation, a non-profit organization that trains therapy interns to conduct in-home counseling for inner cities. Dr. Sadigh resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Bonnie. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Sadigh visit his website here.