Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

I am always a very ready listener too @NatureLover , so please feel free to tag me in.

Although I am not a hoarder myself, my mum most definitely was, so too is my dad and my sister. My brother and I are the only two in my immediate family to escape the affliction it seems.

So although I may not understand what it feels like to have this disorder, I do have some understanding of it.

Emelia 🌷🌻🌺🐈🌴🌹🍂🍃

Dear @Eve7 , thanks so much for your beautiful reply, it means a lot ❤️

I'm sorry your cruise was cancelled. But it's interesting you're doing a major declutter over the next 2 weeks...do you think we could do it together? You could tell me what you've achieved, and I could tell you what I've achieved? That would be so helpful for me!

In any case, thank you heaps for your support and care and willingness to listen 💛

Dear @Emelia8 , thank you so much for your support...so kind of you, especially just having had major surgery!

I would like to tag you, thanks again ❤️

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@creative_writer wrote:
@NatureLoverhere with you ❤️

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Thanks heaps, @creative_writer ❤️ I really appreciate it ❤️

I told my psychologist yesterday that my hoarding had deteriorated and got out of control. She was concerned, as we have done a lot of work on it over many years, and had a lot of success.

There are two parts to hoarding disorder, the incoming stuff and then the getting rid of stuff. I had got a handle on most of the incoming stuff years ago - for instance, not picking up every pamphlet I see. However lately the incoming has got out of hand again. It's partly to do with me deciding for the first time ever to have a wardrobe change. I've always been too poor for fashion. But I decided to get rid of all my ancient dark clothes and buy some bright, more feminine clothes. This seems to have triggered a hoarding episode (if you can call hoarding an episode? Not sure.)

So at the moment I have lots of bags of groceries sitting on the kitchen and lounge-room floors, piled up about 3 bags high, with narrow paths around them. At one point I have to step over them to get to the kitchen. My unit is tiny, so there's no storage for the excess groceries. I also have some clothes piled up there too, a bag of old clothes to get rid of (the decision already made) or new clothes that I need to wash. In amongst all that are library books (a pile to return and a pile yet unread), and a big packet of toilet paper, and tissue boxes, and garden pots, and a pot of garden fertiliser that I've lost and need to use, and a brand new humane rat trap, and bags from work with old water bottles and notes in them, and a box of those N95 masks that there's nowhere to store, and notes from my psychologist sessions that I've lost and need to write up on the computer, and multivitamins that I've lost. The kitchen bench is also piled with more of the same. All the grocery bags are cloth bags and need washing (I wash them after every use).

(@Emelia8 if all this is upsetting or triggering for you, please feel free to disengage!)

Part of the problem with the groceries is that I forget what's in the older bags and buy the item again. Some of the bags have been there for months. My psychologist cancelled my October appt, which didn't help - I only see her once a month.

Another part of the problem is that my germophobia means that a lot of the stuff piled up needs disinfecting, and I can't face it 😞

I also have half a shed that I share with my neighbour, that's full of 16 large boxes of junk plus stuff I want to keep but that I can't fit into the house 😞 I need to go through all that and really, get rid of all of it 😞 which is incredibly daunting.

My life is becoming unfunctional 😞

Thanks for listening, dear @Eve7 @Bow @Emelia8 @creative_writer

Good Morning @NatureLover

thank you for sharing with us. I have a tendency to hoard too and I try to follow the fly lady who says “it didn’t get that way overnight and you won’t fix it overnight”.

Today is 12 November so let’s try and throw away 12 items, put away 12 and give. away 12 then tomorrow we do 13 and so on. That’s doable…we even go back to 1 in a couple of weeks.

With the give away put them in the car and go to Vinnies.

I love that that you are buying some feminine clothes! Well done.

sitting with you my friend 💚🤗💚

Hey @NatureLover I really appreciate you being vulnerable and taking the time to share some of what you deal with on a daily basis, so thank you.

i don’t really know what would be helpful and what wouldn’t be, but from what you have shared maybe there are a couple of small tasks you could manage to do? Like taking the library books back? Putting that bag of clothes for vinnies into your car and dropping it off? Washing those lovely new feminine clothes so that you can start wearing them.

my mum is a bit of a hoarder. During covid she started stocking up on groceries items in case there was ever a massive shortage. There never really was. But now we have the food cupboard in the kitchen and also a cupboard in the spare room with stuff in it. Every now and then we make the conscious decision not to buy anything in our groceries except for fresh food (fruit, veg, meat, bread etc.) and we just make use of what is stocked up in the cupboard. Could you do something similar? Even just by starting with one bag of groceries?

sitting with you @NatureLover

Thank you so much for your kind response, @Eve7 ❤️

I fell in a bit of a hole at the weekend and didn't achieve anything. Wasn't online yesterday 😞

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@Eve7 wrote:

Today is 12 November so let’s try and throw away 12 items, put away 12 and give. away 12 then tomorrow we do 13 and so on.

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I am sorry, that is way beyond me! I could possibly put away 12 items if I called each grocery item one item...is that what you meant? Beyond that though I have no storage space 😞 I did take 3 bags of groceries to the local food bank about 2 weeks ago, so that was a win.

This system obviously works for you? How is your decluttering going?

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@Eve7 wrote:

I love that that you are buying some feminine clothes! Well done.

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Aww, thank you! @Eve7 ❤️ And I was actually able to throw out my old clothes without too much of a wrench, just a little one (putting them in the "throw" pile, getting some back out, putting them back in, etc.).

Thank you, your message was so kind @Bow ❤️

I did wash the feminine clothes on Saturday, and I took the bag full of clothes to the Opp Shop after my psychologist appt on Fri. I will take the library books back this week sometime. Achieved nothing yesterday.

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@Bow wrote:

Every now and then we make the conscious decision not to buy anything in our groceries except for fresh food (fruit, veg, meat, bread etc.) and we just make use of what is stocked up in the cupboard. Could you do something similar? Even just by starting with one bag of groceries?

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It is a good idea. One problem is that I'm a food addict, so I get food obsessions...it must sound so strange to you! At the moment I am addicted to...not sure I am allowed by the rules to mention food items to you? Anyway, one thing is a type of fruit...can I mention that? @moderator Anyway, the point is that I'm not buying any fresh food apart from that one item, and this could go on for weeks. I know, it gets complicated!

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@Bow wrote:

i don’t really know what would be helpful and what wouldn’t be

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Something that works for me is reporting to someone else what I've achieved that day. It motivates me. Another thing is writing a list of a maximum of 5 or 6 things to do that day, in priority order. Then I can do anything off that list in any order, as long as I do something. It gives me some leeway to do the easier tasks if I don't feel strong that day. Makes me feel I'm being kind to myself, while also getting stuff done.

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@Bow wrote:

sitting with you @NatureLover

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Thank you so much ❤️

Tagging @Eve7 @Emelia8 @creative_writer