Let me ask you this…
- Have you ever walked into someone’s home and the first thing you see is a mishmash of boxes, paperwork, unopened mail, clothes, and unidentifiable items covered from the floor to ceiling?
- Have you ever experienced being in someone’s home where there is a chaotic hodgepodge of beautiful collectibles and expensive “things?”
- Do you remember what your first impression was about that home and the person living there?
- Did you know that it is estimated that more than 3 million Americans never throw anything out and recent epidemiological studies suggest that as many as 1 in 20 people have significant hoarding problems.
Compulsive hoarding is a distressing and debilitating psychological condition that can be difficult to diagnose accurately. Even to date, there is much to learn about this complicated and confusing disorder. A very basic description of a compulsive hoarder is someone who is unable to dispose of excess or unused things to the point where their belongings are taking on a life of their own by cluttering up all living space, nooks and crannies.
Now, can you pause for a moment and ask yourself what it must “feel” like for people who are either personally experiencing this or have a loved one that is?
I can professionally vouch for the clients I have supported throughout my career when I say that the majority of people want relief. There is an overwhelming amount of shame and guilt they feel from their clutter.
But it’s not always that simple to do.
New research suggests that people who hard have unique patterns of brain activity when faced with making decisions about their possessions, compared with healthy people. And despite the fact that hoarding has traditionally been seen as a symptom or subtype of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), brain activity in those who cannot de-clutter is also distinct from that of people with typical OCD, the study shows.
It is now believed that hoarding is associated with 4 underlying characteristics:
One: People who hoard have certain core vulnerabilities including emotional dysregulation in the form of depression or anxiety along with family histories of hoarding and generally high levels of perfectionism.
Two: People who hoard appear to have difficulties processing information. In particular, these difficulties appear as problems in attention (including ADHD-like symptoms), memory, categorization, and decision-making. The areas of the brain that control these functions roughly correspond to the brain regions that have been shown to activate differently in people who hoard.
Three: People who hoard form intense emotional attachments to a wider variety of objects than do people who don’t hoard. These attachments take the form of attaching human-like qualities to inanimate objects, feeling grief at the prospect of getting rid of objects, and deriving a sense of safety from being surrounded by possessions.
Four: People who hoard often hold beliefs about the necessity of not wasting objects or losing opportunities that are represented by objects. Additional beliefs about the necessity of saving things to facilitate memory and appreciation of the aesthetic beauty of objects contribute to the problem.
(Source: Dr. Randy Frost)
What you should do:
If you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed about clutter or feel you are challenged with hoarding, I urge you to find a way to connect with other people to talk about it. Consider joining a clutter support group – try several until you find the one you feel most comfortable with. Seek support through counseling, coaching and professional organizers who specialize in hoarding not just clutter.
Remember, the clutter did not happen overnight, therefore it will not go away overnight either. It takes a call to action plan, commitment and accountability, the willingness to change and professional support.
