Cluttering

By nonethewiser Tuesday, January 05, 2010

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I don't think I've ever seen this subject approached before, so I thought I would.

Does anyone else have a problem with cluttering, or even hoarding. I know that I do, and it's worse at times than others. Just as it will drive me crazy at more times than others.

I can go a long time with keeping everything picked up and it's in it's proper place. Then there is other times...I will get it about a foot away from where it belongs and just set it down...thinking I will do it later or tomorrow. If there is a flat spot with nothing on it, I seem to be happy to fill it up too. This is why I no longer have a dinning room set or coffee and end tables. When I did most of the time you couldn't find them. You should see my computer desk....sometimes I am surprised I can see my moniter...like right now.

Who in there right mind owns around 4 thousand beanie babies? I do...ugh! They are mostly in BIG containers out in the shed. One day I got it in my beadie brain that I was going to start my own Ebay beanie baby business. Where do you think I bought them all? Thats right.....off of Ebay. I actually started setting up the business on Ebay, when the stock market took a dump. Conspiracy theory? or Manic phase? I vote for the latter.

I tell all my friends if they need yarn, I can save them a trip to the store. Just come over and tell me what color and type they need....odds are I own it.

Do you need a purse? Come on over, odds are I have the one you need...ugh. Guess where they are? out in the shed in a BIG container. Do you need a picture for you wall? come on over I have plenty of those too. Toilet paper? Paper Towels? yep have those too.

My poor husband...no pun in tended. He keeps containers for my next collection, and keeps filling them. He doesn't make fun of me though, he just every once in awhile will ask if I've figured out what I'm going to do with all these things? I tell him not yet...but I'm thinking about it.

I know it goes back to my childhood, and the way I was raised. I had NO friends, spent my life in my bedroom with my treasures...as few as they were.

I just was wondering if others have this problem with cluttering and hoarding too? I am sure that the cluttering is from when my head is so loud and filled with voices and static, that I can hardly put two thoughts together...much less have my life organized.

Thanks again for reading and responding if you can.

P.S......life is getting better alittle each day for me and my husband...thanks for all the support!

Max Lucado's Fearless Book

Comments (5) | Add comment

Ice Queen

1/ 5/10 12:21pm

I was reading your post and was quite pleased because i am a compleate and utter horder, and for a while i thought that i was the only one.

I can never bring myself to get rid of anything that i have brought i wasn't sure weather it was my bipolar or not. Like you i have stuff everywhere and you can ask me for anything and the chances are very high that i have it. I have about 90 pairs of shoes at last count.

Sometimes i go into a shop to buy one thing and come out with bags of other things as well, i will sometimes buy things that i really don't need. Other times i wont buy anything at all.

The other day i looked at it all and thought to myself that i must clear it out because having all of it is started to drive me mad, i did start but then thought oh well i will finish it tommorow but i have yet to. It's really strange feeling sometimes.

I agree with you i think mine stemed back from my childhood because i was a loner i only had 1 friend and would spend all my time in my bedroom. My parents hardly had any money and things where hard, and i never had what other children had. So when i was given anything i would hold on to it and cherish it.

What i am starting to to now is taking it all one day at a time, i am giveing away things to family and giveing some away to all different charitys. I have realised that i do need to be able to move in my house, and that this is a real problem that needs to to dealt with. You have admitted you have a problem which is a really good start, now just take it one day at a time and at your own pace, throw away what is no good and perhaps give away the stuff that is. plenty of places to give the things away to. Or sell them. Then comes the resisting temptation to buy more.

I wish you all the very best.

Char1956

1/ 5/10 8:32pm

Wow, your post about hoarding and clutter couldn't have come at a better time for me. My bedroom is full of clothing, papers, books and make-up. You can't see the carpet in my room, because it is littered with all these items. Regarding the clothing, I think I have to save everything, because I have several sizes - I keep them all because my weight fluctuates so much, and I just can't seem to let go of any of them! Yes, it is very frustrating, and I can hardly stand to be in my bedroom (although I am typing this on my computer in my bedroom).

My hoarding isn't as bad as what you see on the show, Intervention, but it is bad enough to affect my mood. I don't have any dishes or food in my room, so at least it is not unsanitary. However, the clothes cover up a heater vent, and that could become a safety hazard.

My therapist told me to get a case manager, who could help prod me into getting rid of some of this stuff. As it is now, I feel completely overwhelmed by all the mess, and the thought of starting to clean it up makes me very anxious and overwhelmed.

It is one of my New Year's resolutions to get my bedroom and my coffee table cleaned up. Hopefully, I will not break this resolution.

I also collect magazines and papers on my coffee table. At times, it is so bad that I can't see the top of the coffee table because of all the papers and bills that I stash on it. I periodically clean it off, but in just a couple of days, I am right back where I started.

As for the reasons I hoard/collect, I, too, grew up in a poor family, and I held onto things as a way of controlling my environment, not wanting to lose anything that I had so carefully obtained.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on how to deal with hoarding? I would be very grateful to hear from any of you about how you have dealt with this problem. The messes in my apartment make me feel very anxious and I am always obsessing about them, which clouds my mood on a daily basis.

Char

Athena

2/16/10 3:13pm

I am trying to get rid of my clutter too. It's hard because when I look at it all, I guess it makes me feel good. I guess it brings back good memories. I have my sons Winnie the Pooh costume near my bed. He wore it two Halloween's ago. It's been there all summer and winter and I haven't put it away. I felt like crying when I realized that.

hautbois

1/ 5/10 11:06pm

Very interesting that you created this post. Three weeks ago I came clean (no pun intended) with my Psychiatrist and brought in pictures of my very, very, very cluttered bedroom. He was surprised. Two weeks ago I shared the same pictures with my therapist. She was shocked, as she thought she had me pegged, but this added a new page to the coloring book.

Tonight I had a session and we talked about my bedroom clutter. I stated that after our session I was going out to purchas a new vacuum. She asked me what I would do with the vacuum when I got it home. I replied, "hopefully take it out of the box." Well, I have been home for three hours and it is still in the box.

My therapist gave me a very good suggestion on cleaning up the clutter. Pretend that you have been hired by someone to clean the clutter (it is not yours). How would you start cleaning. I am going to try this tomorrow morning. She told me to not work on this more than 2 to 3 hours a day. I am going to see how this works and will keep you posted.

I have been a clutter and slight hoarder all my life - as I look back. As a young boy when my mother told me to clean my room I did. I would open the closet door and throw everything in the closet. Technically my room was clean. Nothing on the floor, etc. Once a month my mother would then go open the closet door and pull out the pile of clothes, toys, etc., and say, clean this up the right way. Put the dirty clothes in the laundry, fold and put away the clean clothes and put the toys back where they belong. I would do this, but I would always leave a few things on the closet floor. I may have left a few things on the floor out of spite, but also probably because my brain never felt neat and tidy.

Tonight I had an epiphany after reading the post. I think my clutter is linked to the MASK I wear (even thought I have been trying not to wear the mask anymore). When I enter my bedroom and the mask falls off, I feel very safe and secure. The cluttered bedroom feels like my brain. - very, very, very cluttered but getting a bit uncluttered with meds and help. My bedroom is my nest and no one can judge me in here - not even myself.

I have a roommate and the rest of the apartment is clean. He does not enter my bedroom. I have a boyfriend (5 1/2 years) and he never stays at my apartment. He actually saw my bedroom a few weeks ago and started crying. He felt for me. I had a hard time explaining that I was quite fine with my bedroom the way it is. When we are together we are at his place. I do have clutter there in the dresser that is mine as well as the closet.

Since I was finally diagnoised correctly with bipolar II this past summer many things are finally making sense throughout my life. I tuned 50 on Dec. 31st and I am hoping with meds and talk therapy I can unclutter my brain (voices, thoughts, etc.) so the next 50 years can be smooth sailing.

Happy New Year to all!

hautbois

1/ 7/10 12:38am

I opened the new vacuum I bought Tuesday night. I actually vacuumed the living room, dining room and all the furniture. A lot of dust is gone and the floor shines. I can actually see the colors in the area rugs. I actually feel good that I accomplished a goal that I had set for myself on Wednesday.

Now for the hard part - cleaning and uncluttering my bedroom. I am not sure when I will start this project. I am sitting here typing in my bedroom and feel very secure with my clutter around me. I will clear a space on my bed and sleep in the valley I create from the piles.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Pleasant dreams.

Cluttering

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