American hoarder show

Ill health has meant i can't contribute on here as much as i llike.
in the meantime you could check out the following:
http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/

Just as autism was little understood just over decade ago and is now known as a spectrum of disorders Compulsive hoarding is similar and belongs to the Obsessive compulsive Disorder group better known as OCD. Other types of obssesive behaviours are excessive cleaning and handwashing

Compulsive hoarding may be difficult to diagnose, firstly because the person who has it does not acknowledge they have the problems. Secondly the sense of shame attached ot it and the shame for family members. In my personal experience hoarders can be irrational and extrememly defensive and have other behaviour problems such as anger management.

According to Oprah's website there are 2 million people with compulsive hoarding as a problem in the US (unsure where these statistics come from). In the UK i am not aware of any statisitcs.

Oprah

Oprah's show may have ended but her website is sitill live. 6months ago i was pleased to see Oprah covering the topic of hoarding. Today i was impressed with the number of resources. It didn't just sensationalise hoarding by showing peoples homes but scratched beneath the surface with articles addressing that important question why people hoard. Dr David Tolin says it is a serious mental health issue and has given 12 top tips on How to Overcome Hoarding.

 I hope you find the resources here useful.

yvette writes

Decluttering and letting of stuff is a lot more than just action and chucking things out of the way its an emotional journey for the hoarder.

Organisation is a skill that needs to be developed and taught. You are  not born knowing how bes to stay organised. Its not just about buying more storage space,  its about being aware that all this excess material things are actually draining your energy time and money. Overcoming the mental barriers is the first battle. Once this is done a plan on how to get rid of clutter and how to prioritise needs to take place. Yvette writes is a website which gives tips on how to declutter and improve your organisation. I have been receiving newsletters which have good visualisation techniques to help people decide how to declutter. There is also a mini course  "Get Myself Organized" where you can receive emails for 7 days. I would recommend it to anyone not just hoarders or people who live with hoarders.

Please visit Yvette writes.

I have not been paid to recommend the website i just like to share good tips to help others.

Its been a long time on here but my attempts at decluttering have not gone in vain. We have purchased a new house. and been redecorating BUT not moved in yet. A new blank canvas... a fresh new start free of clutter and dust.

So we made a few rules: told my dad under no cirumcstances will his clutter including books be allowed in the house. So far agreed and adhered to.

Second rule books can go into the new garage (bonus!) but things have to be thrown away before stored in the garage. This was a very difficult one for my dad and is still udnergoing. He spent over 4 hours putting books neatly into boxes (according to size not subject), and only one was ready to go as the boxes got to heavy to carry books.

As a result of the above very little has been done in the last few months as my dad clings onto his belongings. Spending hours sifting through book marathons (and sneezes to follow) and then a tirade of justifications for keeping the book. It goes something like this

"I saw this book in WHSmith for £9.99 and you know how much i got it for?"

Pause (nobody cares)

"20p! what a bargain"

and i think to myself yes and now its not worth the paper its printed on and is probably on Amazon for 1p.

Have tried explaining that books loose value and are cheaply available. But no, my dad insists on keeping them-i really don't think a GCSE Letts revision guide form 1989 will be a huge benefit to anyone. Seriously if i had an exam i would want an uptodate book not one that is 20 years old, yellowing pages, written in a boring manner, and probably before colour books were even published. Im sure the dust mites would also trigger and allergic response. Am thinking of maybe taking books to one of those recycling companies that pay for a tonne of paper...will need to look that up.

Would like to hear from any hoarders and if they moved houses how did they decide or come to terms with with what to keep and what not.

Have you helped a hoarder? what advice would you give?

Jenga brain

Is it my imagination or when you are in a cluttered environment even your ability to think straight and do tasks properly is equally chaotic. Having a quick glance through my blog shows my incoherence in places with typo errors and sentences that are random rants that do not flow (in the writing sense). I have found draft version of posts for this blog which i completely forgot.  I only remember things if they are staring me in the face- my organisation system consists of reminders and to do lists on my phone or a post it note on my wall and even sending myself emails of tasks i must do. I have about three notebooks full of tasks to do and even my table at work is some kind of ordered tip.So last week i just put folders and boxes for every little thing- at work at least thing is i just feel overwhelmed at home.

House is still crowded and is a like the game of Jenga with instead of blocks, books falling from hallways and  "neat piles" in the living room.Last night insomnia kicked in and so i decided to look at one of my to do list-out of 15 i had achieved two and then my brain went on a roll of other to do lists and creative ideas- it was like my thoughts were on a reverse jenga.Talk about mimicing my surroundings!
HOARD REPORT:Since i last blogged there are now 3 bulky camping bags making a home in the living room,Deluxe BBQ set stull resides in my room as a temporary table. :(

Uh oh i've just remembred i can spot my typo errors courtesy of my new glasses....yeah anyway cluttered surroundings=clutter brain.

How old is old?

My dad doesn't even throw away letters that come throught the post and is even reluctant to throw away leaflets/flyers "just in case" because they have "information". Up until recently we had bills from the last 15 years stashed away in my bedroom! I can't understand the logic to keeping them when you have paid them off unless you are seriously going to sit there and analyse the house phone bill form 10 years ago! (Sad!).
 I wasn't allowed to throw them away (irrational logic of a hoarder) but i got so annoyed with them taking up my precious inches of shelf space i shredded every single one, except my electric shredder was unable to cope  (i think the sharp bits have gone blunt) so i sat there for hours tearing away with my hands- well there wasn't much else to do in December with outdoor snowed under and indoors snowed under with paper.
But it felt good kind of like having a facial..clean and refereshed