Posts tagged Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Clutterers Anonymous – Hoarders Need Not Be Alone
Nov 4th
Just like many behavioral problems and substance abuse problems, there is a group or society that can help hoarders address their problems. This society or non-profit organization is called Clutterers Anonymous or CLA. This is a fellowship of both men and women who suffer from the Pack Rat Syndrome or the Clutter Syndrome, a mental disorder under the umbrella of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder characterized by accumulation or acquisition of things that are not necessary, mostly junk. In addition, hoarders cannot let go of these things that they have accumulated in the belief that these will be useful one of these days.
The goal of the organization is to provide hope and strength to sufferers of the aforementioned mental disease. CLA embraces the 12-Step Program and the 12 Traditions used in Alcoholics Anonymous. These are key elements or steps of a sufferer to achieve recovery and a new life. Clutterers Anonymous does not charge a fee for its membership and only requires your willingness to become a member. It was founded in May of 1989 in California and focuses on physical, emotional, and spiritual support. CLA believes that the equation to recovery is Principle plus Action.
The Twelve Steps
1. Admittance that you are powerless
2. Admittance that there is a greater power that can help
3. Turn yourself over to God
4. Make a moral inventory of yourself
5. Admittance of wrong doings to God, self, and others
6. Surrender to God and belief that he can take these bad characters away
7. Ask God to forgive you for your shortcomings
8. Make a list of people you have harmed
9. Make amends with these people you have wronged
10. Continue to list moral inventory
11. Pray and meditate
12. Pass on the message of the 12 Steps
The CLA does not record its attendance. It also does not keep a record of its healing rate and they do not publish identities of their member or participants. Clutterers Anonymous is loosely based principles of morality and highly embraces the help of a deity to help the person get rid of his behavioral problem. It is a self-supporting non-profit organization that does not solicit for funds outside it offices or places of operation.
How to Deal With Clutter Hoarding
Aug 9th
Most people love to keep things and every household has keepsakes and collectibles stored somewhere. In some cases, the items you save seem to build up over time until you feel you have no control over them; this is known as clutter hoarding. When the clutter in your home takes over your living space, making it impossible to organize your home, your day to day life can be affected. Family members may criticize the disorder, or you yourself may feel weighed down by the amount of stuff that is surrounding you everywhere. In extreme cases, clutter hoarding can develop into a serious condition where a person is literally incapable of letting go of even the most useless articles. People who suffer from this serious condition may also have obsessive compulsive disorder and they need medical help.
Of course, people who are disorganized by nature and just don’t know how to de-clutter their homes do not suffer from clutter hoarding as a serious condition. You may just feel overwhelmed by the seemingly enormous task of organizing your environment and don’t know where to begin to un-clutter your home. People who have let the disorder accumulate can benefit by hiring the services of a professional organizer to teach them some clutter organization methods that can be incorporated into their daily routine. Not only will this help to get an organized home, it will ensure that the home stays neat, tidy and clutter-free in the future.
To begin dealing with the results of your clutter hoarding tendencies, choose one area of your home, a single room, in which to start. Take a pencil and notebook and go into the room. Make a note of what you would like the room to look like and what clutter organization tasks you need to tackle to make it that way. To reduce clutter, make a list of at least ten items in the room that you know for certain you do not need to keep. Assess all the items in the room to determine which ones should stay in the room, which can be tossed out and which can be stored (in a box out of sight) for future use.
The most common area in any home for clutter hoarding is closet space. It is not that difficult to de-clutter closet space. Start by emptying the closet, putting all clothing on your bed. Next, sort through the clothes, putting aside all items you have not used in the past year. It is extremely unlikely that you will ever wear these clothes again. To reduce clutter in your closet, you should consider donating them to charity. Now it’s time to arrange the rest of the clothes in your closet. Sort all items according to length and hang them in your closet in descending order; blouses and jackets, short skirts, longer skirts, pants etc. To de-clutter closets efficiently, it is important to save space. An excellent clutter organization idea is to put a shoe rack in the space beneath the shorter items of clothing. Also fold bulkier items of clothing and arrange them on the top shelf of your closet. Keep in mind that when you reduce clutter, you should not only organize the space you are tackling; you must also keep it clean. Covering clothes arranged on shelves with plastic sheeting will protect them from dust.
If you have clutter hoarding tendencies and are confused about how to de-clutter your home or organize your workplace, remember that there are professional organizers you can hire to help you get an organized home and teach you all kinds of clutter organization habits to incorporate into your everyday routine.
