Cleantok, the messy fashion that messes up our mental health

Cleaning gloves are being removed.

In an age of influencers, where stripping down your closet has become a legitimate social media trend, with millions of “Cleantok” videos racking up billions of views, experts warn that things are getting emotionally messy.

“The constant need to keep up with these irregular and organizational trends is causing real mental and physical stress,” Association of Professional Organizers and Organizers president Siân Pelleschi told The Guardian.

“People are losing the ability, in some cases, to discern a fashion and a method that can benefit their lives. They are experiencing overwhelm and feelings of despair, thanks to all these trends and different organizational methods, Pelleschi said.

With National Organization Week coming up September 16-23, APDO is celebrating with a push to scale back people’s ambitions, calling on everyone to “get back to basics.”

“Our goal is to reduce the pressure on people to achieve excellence by emphasizing progress over excellence,” Pelleschi said. “We want to emphasize the importance of focusing on basic needs and functions rather than aesthetic appeal.”

Trend analyst J’Nae Phillips told the outlet that hyper-cleaning and throwing things away for many people is all about showing personality.

She told the newspaper that the move is “a way for individuals to express their creativity and values ​​in spaces that might otherwise seem mundane.”

However, mental health experts say these anti-carriers risk causing themselves a kind of harm not unlike that suffered by their polar opposites.

“Throwing things out to this extent is not conscientious,” psychotherapist and psychologist Cassandra Jay, a specialist in busy women’s organisations, told the Guardian.

“Instead, the pressure to get rid of all our possessions and tame them into a perfectly color-coordinated airport box leads to burnout,” she explained.

Furthermore, it can lead to a false sense of self and achievement.

“Which in turn leads to more stress and alienation,” Jay said.