Does anyone else find this?

[Spaceboundeminem]

I'm depressed (I have bipolar1) I worked really hard and cleaned Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I was too ill asked DH to clean he exercised instead. Now the house is filfthy and it has driven my mood even lower.

Does anyone else find that If the house is messy their mood drops?

Yes me. I say my house is an indicator of my mental health as I need it clean, but when too depressed it become too hard.

A tidy house certainly lifts my mood. I'm concerned that you put a lot of effort into cleaning 4 days in a row and on the 5th day the house was filthy again. I wonder if your assessment of the state of your house is accurate and helpful. Could it be that your depression is influencing your perception?

Yes, messy or untidy drives me crazy. I can't stand clutter. I used to have loads of 'stuff' - jewellery, make-up, clothes - I cant' handle it any more so chucked out loads and now I have a more restricted choice, which I find makes me much less anxious.

That is a lot of cleaning for one week OP. Do you find it therapeutic or is cleanliness so important to you that you feel you have to work especially hard to stay on top of it?

I have three dc two with sn and a dog so sadly there is always a lot of cleaning. Plus as I have been ill for a long time it has got messy and needs a good sort out. Dh doesn't clean properly and as I have been unwell for a bit there is a back log. So it gets messy quickly sadly.

In can see how 3 dc and a dog can mess things up again quite quickly. When you ask DH to clean, do you ask him to do specific things, e.g. "Please do the dishes, wipe the counters and sweep the floor" rather than "Please clean up the kitchen"?

No I don't ask him to do specific things. If I do he argues with me. Says I am too picky. I don't have the strength to argue.