Hoarding And Clutter

[Grama-Herc]

You should feel so so proud of the progress you have made!! KUDOS to you.

I can still feel the sense of accomplishment I have everytime I "get my s--t
together, so to speak. So I know how proud you are of yourself and what a
feeling of relief you feel, as well you should.

I re read all the posts here and was surprised we had others here like this. I did
forget to tell you about "1" thing that helps. I have a box for "it does not belong
in this room". It follows me when I am decluttering. If something does not belong
in the room it is in, put it in the box instead of taking it to its place. Less steps
and no chance of getting side tracked.

I don't worry about the stuff in the box until I get to the next room. Take out
anything that belongs in the current room, put it away. New stuff for other rooms will go in the box and eventually EVERYTHING ends up in it's place and you did not run yourself ragged. :) :) :)

I hope this little tip makes sense. I wish you progress on your chore. Just look at how far you have come.:thumbs-up :clap:

 

[2quilt]

My house is a mess of piles. I have important papers that are in piles I made 3 years ago. My quilting fabric room is so filled up that it blocks the window in that room and you cant open the room door all the way. Food turns to science projects in my fridge. I have lived here 11 years and never cleaned the fridge. I do have a housekeeper who comes every two weeks but he just cleans up around the piles. Don't go into the garage.

Is this PTSD-related? -caused?

 

[tryintobreathe]

Baby steps......that's my motto. I think I got that from flylady originally which TOTALLY overwhelmed me. There were a lot of good ideas there though. I just try to make it a goal to work on one thing at a time, in small intervals. Even if it's just 5 or 10 minutes. I also try to always "get rid"....donating, throwing away, etc... of something before I bring something new into the house. I also try to keep one cardboard box by the front door for things to be donated. It fills up pretty quick and I bring it to the Salvation Army.

Jen

 

[bluejayway]

While it may be kind of splitting hairs, I can't say that it is PTSD caused but it is related to PTSD. Things get overwhelming so easily for me, and it is hard to see a way out. Not to mention the fact that some days it is hard to do anything productive including housework. And as others have also mentioned, I believe it is an outer reflection of the turmoil going on inside my head - when I feel worse, the house is worse. I have a book somewhere about being messy, and it talked about people who spend excessive time worrying about cleaning may actually do that just to keep things in control and that can be as unhealthy as not cleaning at all. I checked out a book from the library about decluttering and using that and tips from here to get rid of all the junk that is taking over my house -- the less junk, the less cleaning that will need to be done.

 

[Charon]

I'm not a hoarder but my mom is, I'm the exact opposite in fact. After growing up moving around constantly, then being in the military and moving around constantly, I really pair things down to practically nothing. For years I lived with no furniture (only lived in furnished places) and only owned enough things that I could pile into my car in one trip.

My mom though, whew! Heaps and heaps of junk mail, just stupid coupons and ads for crap products that are sometimes months old. Or if she sees some deal on a product or item, no matter how useless, irrelevant or whatever, she'll buy it and buy it in bulk. There is just always heaps of paper and crap all around whenever I visit her. She's always been like that, I really don't get it. Stacks of Woman's Day or Good Housekeeping scattered all around. Sheesh.

 

[Grama-Herc]

Charon,

The one thing that most people do not realize is that hoarders do not SEE the mess! It builds up so gradually that they/we/me really can't see what is going on until it is
to late.

By then, it's too late. They/Me/We are so overwhelmed by the vastness of the situation we just ignore it and climb over or walk around the crap. That is when outside help is needed to come in and help.

Not to mention, most of the time there are also more pets than the hoarder is capable of handling. But that is another entire issue for later
needed.

 

[a3a2]

Google "Flylady". It is free. It breaks cleaning and organizing your life into babysteps. Incidently, the woman who started it was a victim of abuse and battled depression. SHe talks a lot about building a healthy self-concept.

 

[bluejayway]

I tried flylady. For some it may not be such a problem, but the amount of e-mails sent daily were completely overwhelming to me. I know it says not to worry about that, but it still was too much for me. I may try it again at some point, but for now I am just working on some of the suggestions I've gotten here and some other things I've been working on.

 

[a3a2]

They have revised "flylady" . Now you just get one or two e-mails. I find her a bit annoying at times, but overall I have been able to adapt a lot of the concepts into my life. Mostly I don't read it any more. I just do it. Unless I find myself getting buried, then I go back for a couple of days.

 

[suzie q]

I hear what your saying!! I have had that problem for years now and have found it to get worse when I'm in a depression. Having OCD, I make lists and try to do just "one" thing each day. Sometimes that works, most of the time I ignore the list. I was told some years back that my hording was due to having nothing material for long periods of time. Therefore, everything had a use. The clutter was from nesting. I felt safer if I was surrounded by my own stuff.

I get bonkers trying to get things done, so when the stress gets to high, I try to ignore my nest. Never works though. Thanks for sharing. (I am embarrassed with my house and yard)

suzie q

 

[Grama-Herc]

Here Ye! Here Ye! All You Hoarders


I experienced the ultimate embarrassment this week.

There are therapists coming into our home to help get mom back on her feet. One of our goals is to get her upstairs. We have an electric stair climber but once up the stairs it gets hard.

Well, I have made a small apartment for myself out of the top floor of our 2 bedroom townhouse. I have a living room and a bed room. Unfortunately, my clutter issue was "outed" when the therapists decided to start working on getting mom up stairs.

See, my mom's space is so neat and clean nd tidy you would think no one lives there because I keep her world that way.

My place, on the other hand, was its' usual disaster x 3 and up they come to evaluate the conditions, the workable space and just what was going to be involved.

There is was-----the junk---the crap---the clutter----I simply wanted to die. My mom is the only person who has ever really seen my place. I can not describe the intensity of the embarrassment I felt.

So, yesterday I put away all thecrap and clutter, throwing out some of the clutter and then I cleaned. I dusted every single surface in my bedroom. I even oiled and polished my antique, rattan, oriental sleigh bed.

I actually used furniture polish!!!!!!!!!!! Simply amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AND, I ran the vacuum cleaner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, (now brace yourself-----)I cleaned the bath room and mopped the floor. The bathroom was not to bad. But I do like my body powder, so need I say more?????

Today, it is the living rooms' turn. I hope I can get my lazy butt up for this. I am aching in every inch of my body. Used muscles yesterday I forgot I had. But I am determined to get this place under control.

I am obsessing, however, about the crap behind the closet doors, but I have to put that on the back burner for a while. At least it is hidden from view. But, OMG, the crap that is packed in boxes and crammed into the closets. I actually have almost no room left for my clothes.

So, my clutter friends, watch out!!!!

 

[2quilt]

I tried to clean once, and it caused so much pain that i stopped. Now I just accept the fact that my home has that "lived in look."

I have had people offer to clean it up for me. I haven't had the courage to say yes.

Go easy on yourself. The person coming in the help your Mom might herself be a hoarder.