Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

I'm glad things are slowly getting better for you and back to 'normal' @NatureLover

I hope to have an EARLY night tonight. I go to bed but seem to just stay awake in bed. I'm not overly stressed about it because I don't want to be. At the same time, it makes the mornings difficult when I want to make sure I maintain the same wake time.

I'm glad you are going to do your volunteer work. Do you enjoy it?

It's good if you can move on @NatureLover I'm not familiar with HSP - is it something to do with being highly sensitive?

Agoraphobia must make things very difficult for you. I'm often nervous of going out but enjoyed running into someone I knew today. I might go to a community event tomorrow. It's rare there's anything that's easily accessible.

If I don't hear from you tomorrow, good luck for Monday.

Hi @tyme , did you get to bed early the other night? (Saturday) I can't cope with insomnia, so I admire that you can.

Yes, I enjoy my volunteer job a lot. But I missed both my days last week. Not feeling great today but I do need to go in to it. Thanks.

Hi @Dimity , yes HSP is 'Highly Sensitive Person' - there is a questionnaire if you want to see what it's all about. https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/

Did you go to your community event yesterday? I didn't know you were nervous of going out sometimes. It's good you ran into someone you knew on Saturday.

Yes, my agoraphobia is bad at the moment. But I need to go to work today even though I'm not doing great...if I don't keep going to my commitments and medical appts, my psychiatrist wants me to put up my antidepressant dose. Which I don't want to do.

Good luck today with whatever you have on...

Interesting @NatureLover it seems I'd be highly sensitive too but I read 30% of the population are, I guess it depends on the degree.

It's good you can manage despite agoraphobia. Panic attacks are awful.

Today was very distressing, my psychologist was quite hostile and I doubt I'll see her again.

Tomorrow I'll try to start afresh. I hope the day is good to you too.

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@Dimity wrote:

Today was very distressing, my psychologist was quite hostile and I doubt I'll see her again.

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I am so very sorry to read this, @Dimity 😢 What a shock.

We need to be able to trust our psychologists, so it seems she has made that very difficult. I'm so sorry that that happened. 😢

Are you still distressed?

I am also wondering whether this might help your decision about whether or not to get a helper for the house again? As I know you were tossing up between a psychologist and a helper.

I managed to go to work on Monday despite feeling fragile. It was a good day, so I feel a bit better. I also managed to leave the house yesterday to do errands that I'd been putting off. Today is at home thankfully.

I thought it was 15% of the population that had HSP, but I might be out of date. 🙂

I am hoping I can tackle the stuff on the floor today - this morning before it gets hot. There's so much to do.

Hoping your distress has eased and that you have a better day today 🤞❤️

Hey @NatureLover ,

It seems like all my nights have just blended into each other! It's been a few hectic weeks. Sleepwise, I think I'm okay, but I can sense that I'm working on the higher vigilance than normal which MAY lead to burnout. I'm not burnout here on the forums or at SANE (don't get me wrong). It's stuff that's happening outside work which is beyond my control.

I'm so glad you love volunteering. I do too. Do you feel though, that sometimes it can be very emotionally draining if you are too invested? (or I guess maybe it's different depending on what you do). I volunteer at a local church. I do what I can. I used to do their accounts/book keeping, but it got too stressful, so my main work is working on reporting, policies etc now. The government keeps rolling out new things that need to be kept up to date with.

What else has been happening for you recently? (only if you feel like sharing).

Hi @tyme , I'm sorry to read you've had some hectic weeks with stuff outside the forums that might lead to burnout 😢

Can I ask, are you religious? (As you mentioned volunteering at a local church)

I used to find my volunteering IRL emotionally taxing, but now I don't as I decided not to get to emotionally invested any more in order to save my mental health.

I am still trying to tidy up my hoard for the rental inspection (no date yet has been announced, thankfully). Because of my germophobia I need to disinfect everything in the hoard, so it's a long slow process.

I hope things settle down for you very soon 🤞 Thank you for popping in 🙂

It's good you could get out @NatureLover .

You said "I am hoping I can tackle the stuff on the floor today - this morning before it gets hot. There's so much to do." How did you get on?

I'm still feeling rattled but also have a lot to do. I've done some chores and want to clear some remaining branches from the storm. Exercises too, and doing something about the state of the livingroom. Distraction really but also necessary.

No wonder you are still rattled, @Dimity . I would be devastated if that happened to me with my psychologist. 🫂

Does moving branches from the storm affect your back? Please be careful... 🤞

Yes, I did manage to tackle some bags on the floor on Weds. But it was slow progress, disinfecting as I went. There are now only 9 bags on the kitchen floor that I need to clear. If I can clear them without needing to put any of them in the shed, that will be a real victory.

My agoraphobia has eased a bit thankfully and I was able to go to work yesterday. It was a good but very busy day.

I was so tired last night that I didn't put out the recycling bin, for the first time ever. The lady at the council had told me last week that the bin trucks start at 6am, so I put my bin out this morning at 6. However my neighbours' recycling bins had already been collected. I must admit I had always thought the trucks started earlier than 6am. I will ring the council again today to ask.

How did you get on yesterday with your many tasks?

Sending hugs ❤️