It’s well-known that depression takes a toll on physical and mental health as feelings of isolation, loneliness, despair and low energy prevail.

One area that doesn’t get as much attention? Depression’s impact on your physical space, like your home or bedroom – but a conversation about this is starting on social media.

Folks on platforms like Instagram and TikTok are posting videos of their “depression rooms” – spaces filled with old laundry, trash, dirty dishes, takeout boxes and more that weren’t attended to when someone was feeling low. The videos show people cleaning their (or their loved ones’) “depression homes” or “depression rooms.”

“‘Depression room’ is this term that has entered into the pop psychology lexicon lately, and it refers to the living space of a person in the grips of a depressive episode,” said Dayton Olsen, a licensed professional counsellor with Thriveworks in Roanoke, Virginia.

“A ‘depression room’ describes a living space that has become noticeably cluttered or chaotic because the person living in it is experiencing depression,” said Kobe Campbell, a licensed clinical mental health counsellor in North Carolina.

“It’s not about laziness or lack of care, it’s a sign that the inner world has become so heavy or disorganised that maintaining the outer world feels impossible,” Campbell added.

There’s a clear reason “depression rooms” happen.

“The state of the room becomes a mirror of what is happening internally,” Campbell noted.

“It’s amazing what even just a brief glance into someone’s living space can say about how that person’s doing,” Olsen said. A picture – or video, in this case – speaks 1,000 words, he added.

“These awful depressive episodes, they do to a person’s living space what they do to a person. They rob them of the ability to just care for themselves, to tend to themselves and their space,” Olsen noted.

“Depression impairs executive function, which is the area of the brain that helps us plan, prioritise and follow through on tasks,” said Campbell.

When you’re depressed, everyday tasks and chores feel overwhelming, Campbell added.

"Depression rooms" — the messy bedrooms and homes that reflect the lack of motivation that happens when someone is depressed — are trending on social media.

People who’ve dealt with depression describe it as a period of timelessness “where they can’t remember back, necessarily, to a time where they didn’t feel depressed, and they can’t imagine a future where they feel differently,” Olsen........

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