Steps to Turn Around Hoarding

Hoarding is a disorder that affects over a million people worldwide, according to UCSB Psychiatry. People who hoard have a difficult time throwing things away and may compulsively collect objects, usually at the expense of their happiness and well-being. Hoarding can range in severity from mild to extreme. Hoarding usually involves worry and fear about throwing items out, combined with a compulsion to collect, categorize, or stack possessions. This combination of worry and compulsive collection links hoarding to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hoarding can be turned around by engaging in exposure therapy, which is the most effective, scientifically tested program for curing obsessive-compulsive disorder and hoarding alike.

Things You'll Need

• Garbage bags
• Large garbage pail

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Instructions

• 1

  Move through your home or cluttered space and observe where and in what manner the hoarding tendencies manifest themselves. Put a mark next to the most serious problems in each room. Be as honest as possible; even if you have anxiety about throwing possessions away, it is crucially important to acknowledge where the hoarding is most serious.

• 2

  Make a list of the thoughts, fears, worries and anxieties associated with the hoarding troubles. Write down, for example, the fear of throwing away something that you may need later, if such a thought afflicts you. Mark down your thoughts even if they seem irrational or silly. Read your list out loud several times; acknowledging your thoughts and fears is the first step toward defeating them.

• 3

  Choose a day to begin your exposure therapy. Pick a sector of your house or space where the hoarding tendencies have created clutter or unwanted accumulation of items. Begin with a pile or space that causes you a mild amount of worry; although it is crucial that you experience stress, fear and psychological tension during your exposure therapy, it is also crucial to progress slowly from mild to difficult hoarding challenges.

• 4

  Get a large trash can, along with several trash bags, and begin throwing away items one by one. Feel the anxiety grow until it reaches a subjective maximum level. Sit quietly, breathe and relax, and wait until you feel that your anxiety has decreased by 50 percent. Repeat the exposure two or three more times immediately afterward, or as long as you can without experiencing emotional exhaustion.

• 5

  Continue the exposure therapy for several days until you experience less stress and anguish when removing clutter. Progress from mild challenges to difficult ones, seeking to go a little bit farther in each exposure. Expect to fail at times during this process; exposure therapy is difficult and psychologically taxing, but is a tried and tested way to eliminate compulsions from daily life. Keep dated notes in your journal regarding your progress. Fight against your hoarding tendencies by throwing possessions away until your space contains only essential items. Be consistent above all else. The compulsion to hoard cannot be cured overnight, but with dedication and time, you can eradicate hoarding from your life entirely.