What the Research Actually Says About Damp Homes and Mental Health

This review sifted more than a thousand records down to nineteen studies that met its inclusion criteria, and found a consistent picture: adults living with residential damp or mould reported more depression, more stress and more anxiety, while children in the same conditions showed more emotional symptoms and greater difficulty regulating emotion. The authors were candid that the underlying evidence base has real methodological weaknesses, most of it cross-sectional and reliant on self-reported exposure, which is why they called for better research rather than declaring the question settled. What makes the review useful anyway is its consistency across very different countries and climates. If your home has a problem you have been postponing, the emotional weight you feel about it is not separate from the health picture. It appears to be part of it.