Toss it!

Do you throw stuff away, or put it somewhere out of sight because there is an off chance you may use it twenty years down the road? If so, maybe you have a hoarding issue. If you have a dining room table but cannot see it because you have so much junk covering it, you may have a hoarding issue. When you have visitors is there a way for them to enter your house? Is there junk piled on either side of the entryway nearing the ceiling?  Do visitors gasp and cover their mouths when entering your home? 

Clutter Not Me

Me, I am more of a toss it person. I’ve been known to throw away a new purchase because I couldn’t figure out how it went together. My husband Gary can attest to this. Not my finest moment. In life I believe everything has a place and everything should be in its place. Our house is a non-clutter house. I could never be a hoarder. Beside it being messy there is a risk of rodents, spiders, etc. Food left lying around attracts mice. Used pizza boxes that you can’t find in your heart to toss, newspapers from back in the sixties. It all sounds like mice haven to me. 

The air in a hoarder's house has got to be toxic. Mice poop, combined with rotten and spoiled food makes a deadly combination. Breathing it in may cause health problems. Mold and mildew often grow rapidly in damp dark places. Don't let it start in the home you live in.

Sleeping in your bed may be a problem if you cannot find it because of the amount of junk you have laying everywhere. Boxes stacked precariously in every corner of the room. How in the world would you ever get out safely if a fire started? My thinking is you would not. People out taking a walk look and notice the windows in people's homes. Don't think they do not look. They see the junk piled entirely blocking out any kind of view. I’ve witnessed it myself at a house I walk past in the city we live in. I wonder how anyone can live within. To each his own. If it were me living there, I would rent the biggest dumpster I could rent and start tossing things. 

Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior

Real life hoarders have anxiety and an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Who knows where it stems from. Often times it is a mental health problem. The idea of throwing anything away for a hoarder is greatly upsetting. So, things keep stacking up until there is no more room in the house. A true hoarder will find room. Parting with anything is not something they do. 

Along with a messy house the kitchen and refrigerator are likely places to store things. Look in any hoarder's refrigerator and you will find outdated food that should have been tossed months or even years ago. Mold is common, bacteria runs rampant contaminating all that is inside, therefore nothing is safe to eat. 

I cannot imagine what the bathroom looks like. I have seen tv shows with feces on the floors of bathrooms in a hoarder's house. Dead mice and mice poop is another commonality found in a messy hoarder's house.

Is There Help for These People?

Can hoarders be cured of their hoarding? This is a good question. They need to recognize they have a problem and want to change their ways. Otherwise, unless there is an intervention by loved ones, I don't see it happening. Concerned family members eager to help are not always successful. A traumatic event such as losing a loved one can start the onset of hoarding. Obviously, hoarders have organization problems, along with problem solving and trouble making decisions. So, for them saving everything is a cure for all that. It keeps them from overthinking.

Whatever your goal is in life, a clean uncluttered house is a great way to start. 

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