ocd,hoarding

[joanna32]

hi all,is there not a forum on this to help people like me who hoard with ocd,i just want to take control of it and get rid of it all but dont know what to do with it all as its alot of items,thank yous in advance,i feel so alone with.it all and ashamed and lots of anxiety :-(

[123tushar07]

its ur problem , so u know the importance of finding a solution , because ur life  is taken from u by ocd, u cant enjoy ur life, do the things u wanted to do, due to ocd, so u have to take ur life back from it, it will effect other mental issues also. if u dont get treated for ocd , it will only make the situation more worse.

Regarding medication, medication will help u, it will not solve the problem, bit it will give u enough strength to do therapy and to get out from  ocd.

regarding family, dont think how they will feel, or they wont understand about conditon, it looks very obivious to me, because in general there is very less or almost zero awareness about mental disorders, but the point is that ur family will be very happy when u will come out of ocd

[joanna32]

Yeah thank u :-)i am trying to do.my.best with it all,it will really take lot time,i.do see things different is that all.part of ocd,i mean me having alot of.clutter no one in my family.circle is this way,they just see it all as me being lazy,i have seen a counsellor but i didnt go into much about ocd more bout my other mental issues even though.ive had ocd as a child.but.its changed over years to having ocd of different things,i.went from being really neat and tidy with ocd to years later i hoard etc,i have ocd and i dont know much.bout it strange cause i.live it,doubt meds would work.for this do they,i dunno how to find words to explain my.ocd to family,think.most them.think ocd is neat and tidy when.ocd can be for anything :-(

[JGF25]

Part of helping a person with OCD is seeing things in a different way.  Or changing the way you think.  So when you make a bag to get rid of, make it go to someone who can use it.  There are people that can use your clothes and your shoes and so you can donate that stuff, walk out the door, and if you have panic then you do some controlled breathing.  (I can tell you how if you don't know).  The things that are broken, make an effort to get rid of one thing a day or one or two things a week.  Take the broken TVs to the dump.  It took you a while to get to this point and nobody is saying you have to change over night.  You recognize you need to change this behavior which is good.  Also, I know things are easier said than done and if you can see a psychologist that would be great.  They can teach you techniques that you can use to help combat the panic attacks related to uncluttering your house.  

[joanna32]

thank u.very much for all ur advice :-)u have been really helpful,i guess this is just going to take time,and cant get any worse only better :-),i did do another bag today,and put it in garden,and run back in again,i just dont know where i move it all to next as its a small back garden and will be taking over that area now,i dont tend to look at it much,so mayb thats a step i must take next i always have the fear that as people arent coming into my house by there own choice cause of the hoarding but there closed minds call it lazy,its not cause ikeep coats shoes etc that i know i wont use again,im just worried incase they do call or sumone sees me doing all this,dats y i feel quilty and ashamef,not many people see that i hoard what if they do,i know thats not what i should be worrying about but i do,its hard,i didnt even realise i hoard to got like this out of control i would say got worse in last coup years due to few things i cant control in my life at the min getting me more down

[123tushar07]

this  could be a good exposure exercise,   not all u have to remove that material plus u have to remove the anxiety also, so now daily visit ur garden area for sometime and remain there looking at those materials, also note ur timings hw much time u remained there, date , time, also feelings(fear, guilt etc.)in a level out of 100, when ur anxiety reduces to around 20/100 then u can permanently remove them, if u remove them now, it will only be a temporary solution because u will start to panic again by having only thoughts about hoarding, so watch those materials until u feel bored by seeing them, plus dnt do any prayres,counting during this, no mental compulsions also like mental checking for these thoughts, thought stopping/replacing/supression.

in addition to exposure u have to stop the avoidance behaviour also, u should not avoid garden area for some work,also dont do any relaxation exercises, like yoga or meditation after exposure, let the body get habituated to anxiety, ur definitly going to get better, have faith in urself
motivate urself daily but remain cautious give urself no self reassurance, dnt seek reassurance frm others also,u can use mindfullness also , it will also help u

[joanna32]

yeah i have been doing it from this morning so tired now,i filled 3 black bags and put them out my back but thing is i feel that ive move a tiny bit frm my house to garden now so i will keep doing this everyday but then.all the black bags are just going to hoard in my garden now,and everytime i see them still im filled with panic anxiety dread,tiredness and ashamed just cause there still there in sight thank u again :-)

[123tushar07]

start in baby steps, u can start with very small things, no need of making it a mess, motivate daily urself and do these steps in morning itself so that u dnt have weight of doing it for whole day

[123tushar07]

there is no need of seperate forums for different symptoms of ocd, because all are due to same problem and more or less all have same treatment.
exposure
why cant u start throwing these items and become a rolemodel for all hoarding sufferers than just discussing it again and again,just getting depressed about it will not give the solution,start doing than talking.