Hoarding

OCD and GAD

The side effect of hoarding includes confusion or overwhelming feeling due to too much stimuli, A feeling of congestion of thoughts, actions and emotions also often occurs.

There is a debate over whether hoarding is just a mental illness or a type of OCD. I believe it to be an emotional driven type of OCD.

Often those who hoard feel they will lose the memory that was attached to an object, or feel they are letting go of a part of themselves, or they may be deprived of it in the future because of giving it away, or feel guilty about wasting something.

Where to start?

I personally would nourish the myelin and adrenals (if you need help, fill out these questionnaires on this site -->
Thin Myelin
Liver Weakness
Adrenal Stress Analysis
….. But even when a person overcomes the cause of their OCD (for example, the myelin is now releasing enough neurotransmitters) they are then faced with the overwhelming task of tackling the mounds of residue left over from their condition.

Helpful hints:

If you have the money… There are professional organizers who do this for a fee. Friends can sometimes be commissioned for help. Family often are too emotionally involved and often invokes emotions which contributed to the problem in the first place.

These steps might help….

Do it is small spurts… 30 min a day or so many containers or bags a day..

Do common rooms first… One room at a time.

Put things in 3 piles.. One you have to definitely keep, One you can donate, and a Maybe pile It is sometimes easier to donate your stuff instead of putting them into the garbage.

After you have been through all the stuff…. Put the definite keepers way in their proper place, dropped off what you are going to donate….. Re-examine the Maybe pile.

Put the Maybe pile in a room and if you haven’t needed to find something in that pile in 6 months to just donate it all.

Hoarding is common… There are an estimated 3 million people who have suffer this affliction. My father had our basement filled to the max… Through a lot of conflict, my mother was able to make him confine it to there….. I have a dear friend who hoard and later became so constipated in her emotions and actions, that she lost her job, home, and finally freedom to live outside of an institution. So I know that being a pack rat can have devastating effects.

But in all of this, I believe working with the myelin is the first step.