Watching cleaning videos creates a sense of well-being and may relieve symptoms of anxiety (Pixels)

While chaos surrounded Sarah; Dust is spread everywhere around her, the kitchen sink is overflowing with dirty dishes, and the bed needs making. The young woman decides to watch a video clip from among the thousands titled “Clean with Me” in the hope that she will get ideas for cleaning the house. She passes her finger across the screen, the video clips continue, and time passes without her realizing it, and she becomes calmer, even though nothing has changed in the chaos surrounding her.

Sarah is one of millions of women and men who enjoy watching this type of video, which is similar in that it revolves around the same main idea despite its different details. A person cleans his house, reviewing the details of this process, including scrubbing sinks, cleaning floors, changing sheets, etc. Some clips are long and detailed, while others extend for less than a minute, but they are very popular on various social media platforms.

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In 2017, Amanda Paige launched her YouTube channel, and after only 6 months she was able to make profits by filming clips cleaning her house, and I noticed that she was receiving a high number of views.

According to her interview with the American newspaper The New York Times, her income reached 6 figures, enough to support her family and three children in a spacious house.

Her channel has more than 400,000 subscribers, and she considers it a full-time job, as she requires about 40 hours of work per week to produce content.

What is the secret to the success of these clips?

Scientists explain the high demand for watching these clips as leading to a feeling of comfort similar to the feeling resulting from exposure to a phenomenon known as “ASMR” or “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.”

The term refers to a type of reaction that occurs when exposed to certain audible or visual stimuli, and resembles a tingling sensation that starts from the scalp, passes through the back of the neck, and reaches the spine.

In a study published in 2018, researchers noted that people undergoing this experience felt symptoms such as relaxation, lower heart rate, and increased positive feelings, similar to what happens when listening to music or practicing meditation.

Craig Richard, professor of biological sciences at Shenandoah University in the US state of Virginia, explains in his book “Brain Pinches” that functional magnetic resonance imaging indicated a similarity between the areas that are activated in the brain during the “Asmar” experience and those that are activated during emotional behaviors. He believes that the aforementioned video clips can lead to a feeling of comfort similar to the “Asmar” experience, especially if it is accompanied by pleasant sounds and relatively slow and predictable movements.

The nervous response varies from person to person, as not everyone feels this sensory response of tingling, but according to psychiatrist at the University of Essex in England, Julia Lara Borio, even if not everyone feels the same response, this content can help those with depression, anxiety attacks, and sleep disorders. On improving. This was confirmed by a study conducted at Swansea University, which found that 80% of participants who were exposed to “Asmar” content expressed its positive impact on their mood, while 69% of them indicated that it reduced their feelings of depression.

Research published by the Nebraska Medical Center in 2022 indicated the possibility of utilizing this phenomenon as a future tool to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The term "pixels" refers to a type of reaction that occurs when exposed to certain audible or visual stimuli (pixels).

But other researchers, such as David Warren, a neuroscientist, point out that there are no clinical trials proving that it has a permanent effect on mental health.

Aside from the sensory response that this phenomenon leads to, there is another effect of these clips that cannot be ignored. They simply alleviate our feelings of guilt for not performing the tasks required of us, which neuroscientists explain by what they call the “mirror neuron” theory, which means that watching someone He does something that elicits the same neurological response in us as doing it ourselves. This means that watching a house cleaning video gives us a feeling of satisfaction similar to what we get when we clean our homes, without making any effort.

the negative side

But on the other hand, there are some harms resulting from indulging in watching these clips, as some studies link watching fast video clips of various types to a decrease in attention span over time, as a person may find himself less able to concentrate for longer periods.

Cleansing represents a documented therapeutic technique for alleviating symptoms of depression (Shutterstock)

On the other hand, the feeling of immediate relief that you get after watching it is just a temporary relief, a free and easy solution that does not require any effort, which sometimes leads to ignoring the real problem. Instead of immersing yourself in such clips, we advise that you search for the problem to try to find a solution.

Actual house cleaning can be a type of therapy. According to clinical social worker Carolyn Giffen, cleaning represents a documented therapeutic technique for improving symptoms of depression, and a type of behavioral activation that involves completing specific, measurable tasks to build a sense of confidence and control.

Which means that washing the dishes accumulated in the sink can relieve your feelings of depression!

Source: websites