Obsessive Cleaning and Serotonin


Posted by Laura on Thursday, 9 December 1999, at 11:11 p.m.

(Yes, stay tuned and you will discover the connection between the two)

Today a colleague of mine and I were talking about depression and seasonal affective disorder. I have a brain injury and am a brain injury advocate and have had SAD since the brain injury. She has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and is an OCD Advocate.

I mentioned to her that the last 2 weeks I can see & feel the SAD getting much worse (my light box arrives tomorrow!!!). One of the things I have noticed -- as the days get shorter and darker -- is I am developing this compulsive, annoying need to clean, clean, clean.

She asked me if I can just leave the messes alone, or can I ignore that one spot on the table? I said, yes, I can but I usually don't. She asked how much does it bother me. I said it will annoy me if there is that spot and I don't clean it or if I don't make sure all the dirty towels are all together in the same laundry basket in the basement or all the forks lined up the same way or.....whatever.

I have been spending A LOT of time clutter clearing, as you all know (LOL). As it gets darker I am finding more reasons and more closets to clear. I fear by December 22, the Solstice, I will have clutter cleared away everything in my house!

Anyway, she said this is classic OCD stuff. That when OCD gets really bad you can not stop the need to clean that one spot on the table or keep washing your hands or organizing the silverware drawer or whatever.

And, here is the kicker, she said how do you feel after you clean or neaten the things up that bother you? I thought for a moment and said, I feel much , much better. A sense of relief...and calm.

She said that is because you just got some serotonin. The act of cleaning, or repetitively doing something calms you down which produces a small amount of serotonin.

It fits... It makes perfect sense and I know she is right.

Many people with OCD are successfully treated with some form of medication which increases serotonin, which stops the obsessive need to clean or do repetitive actions.

So, as it gets darker and my house gets shinier, neater, cleaner, fastidiously ordered and squeaky, I have discovered yet another way to make serotonin for myself. Potato, move on over!

When the light box comes I will let you know how I am faring. Probably my home will begin to look its normal comfy mess and I will begin to come up out of the darkness of temporary depression and fatigue which SAD gives me.

In the meantime, give me back my Lemon Pledge and ignore me if I wax the coffee table for the 11th time! And please, when you get up from the couch, could you please smooth out the wrinkles in the coverlet, and pick up that speck near your right foot, ok? Or, better yet, let me do it!

Laura
Lutheran Warrior League Honorary Member
Cleaning Committee Chair

PS Will the Lutherans EVER embrace feng shui? Or will conversations centering on jello, mini marshmellows and covered dishes rule the roost?