| | Are you worried that you will become a hoarder too?
Awareness and education is the first step in managing hoarding.
Here are some reading suggestions:
BOOKS
 Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding: Why You Save & How You Can Stop (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook)
By Fugen Neziroglu, Jerome, Ph.D. Bubrick, Jose A. Yaryura-Tobias
Description
This book, the first ever written for savers and their families, provides an overview of compulsive hoarding and how it relates to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It discusses hoarding broadly, offering readers perspectives on the physical, behavioral, and value-oriented aspects of the condition. Readers can use its assessment tools to help decide why they or their loved one hoards. Skill-building exercises help readers determine how to beat the hoarding problem by addressing issues that often underlie compulsive saving. Even though this is fundamentally a self-help book, it contains a frank discussion about the need for professional help in some hoarding cases, how to find it, and what medications have been proven effective for savers.
http://astore.amazon.com/childrenofhoa-20/detail/157224349X/002-6223603-2676807
Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding
By David F. Tolin, Randy O. Frost, Gail Steketee
Description:
Buried in Treasures outlines a scientifically-based and effective program for helping compulsive hoarders dig their way out of the clutter and chaos of their homes. Discover the reasons for your problems with acquiring, saving, and hoarding, and learn new ways of thinking about your possessions so you can accurately identify those things you really need and those you can do without. Learn to recognize the "bad guys" that maintain your hoarding behavior and meet the "good guys" who will motivate you and put you on the path to change. Features of this book include: -Self-assessments to determine the severity of the problem -Tips and tools for organizing your possessions and filing your paperwork -Strategies for changing unhelpful beliefs about your possessions -Behavioral experiments to reduce your fear of anxiety and fear of discarding.
http://astore.amazon.com/childrenofhoa-20/detail/0195300580/103-2867372-5541428
Compulsive Hoarding and Acquiring: Workbook
By Gail Steketee, Randy Frost
Description-
The self-help workbook that goes with Buried in Treasures:
Although most people enjoy acquiring and using their possessions and nearly everyone keeps some things they dont need or use, people with compulsive hoarding carry this to an extreme. For them, ridding themselves of extra possessions is emotionally exhausting. Organizing is difficult and resisting the impulse to acquire new things is almost impossible. This book represents more than a decade of research and practice to understand hoarding and develop an effective treatment program that address its many components. Used in conjunction with the treatment described in the therapist guide, this workbook teaches people how to minimize the negative effect clutter has on their lives, as well as the lives of those close to them. Using effective and practical techniques and skills, this program helps people get used to the idea of sorting, organizing, and gradually removing their unwanted possessions. People who hoard tend to overvalue the importance of the things they own and keep. This book will also help people to recognize errors in their thinking and modify their thoughts and beliefs to more accurately reflect the value of their belongings. Worksheets for developing a personal organization plan and determining categories for filing are also included in this interactive, easy-to-use workbook. With these books, users can be active participants who successfully overcome their compulsive hoarding.
http://astore.amazon.com/childrenofhoa-20/detail/0195310551/103-2867372-5541428
Articles/Other literature:
"Saving The World" by Fred Penzel, Ph.D
http://www.homestead.com/westsuffolkpsych/Hoarding.html
Chapter 23
HOARDING: CLINICAL ASPECTS AND TREATMENT STRATEGIES
Randy 0. Frost, Ph.D., Gail S. Steketee, Ph.D.
HOARDING SYMPTOMS AND FEATURES
Find a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist/Counselor/Doctor
How it is treated, on the OCF Hoarding website:
http://www.ocfoundation.org/hoarding/treatment/group-treatment-for-compulsive-hoarding.php
The FLY Lady (flylady.net) talks about how clutter really affects your life, and how it is costing you:
From her book, Sink Reflections, pgs. 24-27 :
Clutter is things that do not bring you joy, you do not love, or you don't need.
Things that you use, love, and enjoy are necessary and important to have. Things that you have in your home that you don't need or don't like will have the opposite effect on you: they will make you feel negative and dragged down.
Clutter is disorganized.
You may have things that you love and things that bring you joy, but if they are just stuck everywhere and have no real order to them, they will still have the same negative effect. You may have a beautiful collection of antiques but if they are everywhere, covered in dust, with no sense of flow, then you are not really enjoying them to their full potential.
Clutter can keep you living in the past, or reliving the past.
When you have things around you that don't bring you joy from your past, you can't move forward.
Clutter causes problems in your family.
Clutter makes you feel embarrassed and ashamed. How many times have you turned people away or not invited people to your home because of the clutter?
Clutter has a way of taking over our lives before we even know it. Clutter becomes that unwanted houseguest that you can't get rid of. It robs us of peace while we are home and it also steals any bit of joy when we leave home. Worse, it creates a feeling of dread when you know you have to return to that mess. How many times have you stayed late at work just to avoid the clutter in your home? What about those of you that will not go anywhere because of the chaotic state of your home?
Clutter has to be conquered.
Don't think so? Look at some of the things we give up so we can devote our lives to this selfish houseguest. I received a message once from a lady who gave up her family vacation to clean and declutter their home for the safety of a crawling baby.
Clutter-filled homes are not welcoming to friends or family.
So we do not invite them over often. When we do, we almost kill ourselves trying to get the house presentable so we will not be embarrassed. You knwo the drill. Major Crisis Cleaning until 3:00 a.m. because they are coming the next day. As a result of not wanting to make the preparations, we alienate ourselves from our friends and family by closing our doors and throwing away the key.
Clutter does not allow your mind and body to rest.
The guilt of all the clutter keeps you working non-stop. You can't organize clutter; you can only get rid of it, like a cancerous tumor. Purge it from your life and you will find out what living is all about.
Clutter causes you to turn down invitations to lunch or weekend getaways with your husband. It will also get in the way of you taking time for you. It yells at you, "You don't deserve to have any fun; you have not taken care of ME yet!" Oh, selfish clutter. Like a spoiled child, it requires all of your attention.
Clutter also sends a subconsious message. Clutter tells the world that you are not worthy.
We have all heard it. If you can't take care of this, you can't have anything else. We have been brainwashed by this clutter to believe that we do not deserve to have nice things, since we can't keep our home looking presentable. So we buy more clutter at yard sales and junk shops because it only costs a dollar.
Now don't fuss about this, I love yard sales as much as the next person, but think about the mentality for a few minutes. Don't we deserve to be surrounded by pretty things that we love, instead of someone else's cast-offs? When we quit wasting our money on more clutter to feed the already growing demon in our home, we can save to purchase things that make us smile.
Clutter never wants you to leave home.
This is why it makes it so difficult for you to pack and go on vacation. Laundry has to be done; you have to get people to come to the house to feed your critters, or worse yet, you need someone to housesit for you. Clutter will never allow strangers in its domain. It wants you all to itself. The bills have to be paid. Before you can go, clutter invades your finances and family responsibilities. You don't have wills done because it is just too much trouble. You stay home, so you won't have to make the decision of who will care for your children in case of an accident.
Clutter loves to make you sick. Clutter attracts dust which then can affect your health. How many of you suffer from headaches, sinus problems, and allergies? This way you are totally dependent upon its way of life. It robs you of your health, so this gives you an excuse to give it more clutter. The more there is the happier it becomes and the sicker you get. Sometimes you will not allow people to come into your home to help because clutter has quarantined you. Or shall we say imprisoned you in your dungeon?
Here is yet another way to see clutter:
Clutter is to our homes as cholesterol is to our arteries. This is scary, so let's examine the similarities:
Cholesterol clogs arteries. Clutter invades the pathways of our homes.
Cholesterol increases blood pressure. Clutter causes stress in your life .
Cholesterol reduces your life span. Clutter decreases your joy in living.
Cholesterol costs major money when you treat it. Clutter pushes money away from you.
Cholesterol causes heart disease. Clutter destroys closeness in families .
Cholesterol is a result of over-indulging in fatty foods. Clutter is a result of over-indulging in stuff.
Cholesterol causes arteries to harden. Clutter causes hearts to harden.
Clutter's main sustenance is chaos.
When you are running around your home searching for something in all the mess, clutter is celebrating with a feast. Trying to find a document on your desk is not fun for you, but clutter begets clutter. You end up making an even bigger mess during the search.
Clutter loves ignorance, beacuse you know no other way to live.
If you did, clutter would not have a home that provides it with all the undivided attention that you give it. You have never enjoyed a peaceful afternoon without clutter vying for your every thought and deed. It knows that if you ever feel once ounce of peace, you will tell it to hit the road, because that peace is contagious.
===
Go to http://www.flylady.net to learn about babysteps and starting the Fly Lady program if you are interested. (it's free, and it has helped thousands and thousands of people!)
|
