Are you a hoarder? Probably not.
People say anyone who has a cluttered home or keeps too much of something a “hoarder”.
“Try not to look at all my junk. I’m such a hoarder." or “My mother hoards food. She keeps too much.” or “Everyone hoarded toilet paper during the pandemic.”
But that isn't hoarding.
Hoarding disorder is not having clutter or keeping too many of something. Hoarding disorder is defined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as “persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value” according to their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 5.
There is a diagnostic set of criteria that must be met and individuals diagnosed with it are suffering.
Three types of disorganization
There are three main types of disorganization.
First, as I discussed here, situational disorganization is an event, series of events, or change in your life leading you to be disorganized in some area of your life for some period.
We all face situational disorganization sometimes, including me. Moving into a new home, hosting holiday events, and adjusting to new routines at the beginning of a new school year are all examples of times when you may experience temporary chaos in your space. This is normal and can be fairly easily overcome.
Second, there is chronic disorganization. Judith Kolberg in her book What Every Professional Organizer Needs to Know About Chronic Disorganization describes three key features of chronic disorganization:
Chronic, severe disorganization that has persisted over a long period of time, often the majority of one’s adult life, and is prone to continuing into the future.
Disorganization that undermines one’s quality of life on a daily basis.
A history of failed self-help efforts.
A lot of people experience chronic disorganization for a variety of reasons including ADHD diagnoses or never learning how to organize things. There are defined strategies and techniques that can be used to help someone overcome this type of disorganization.
Finally, there is hoarding.
What is hoarding?
There is a professional society dedicated to the study of chronic disorganization: The Institute for Challenging Disorganization, or ICD®. ICD® provides education, research, and strategies to benefit people challenged by chronic disorganization.
ICD® developed the Clutter-Hoarding Scale®. This is what you hear referenced on television shows like Hoarders on A&E when they say “This is a Level 5 hoard!” That means it is the worst of the worst.
That makes for good television ratings.
But what you are watching is someone suffering from a mental disorder. This is why a psychologist is always included in the work on the show. Remember, hoarding disorder is listed in the DSM-5. Without specialist training an individual can do real harm to a person suffering from hoarding disorder by just throwing away their things.
Hoarding is terribly hard, and highly defined, and not your garden-variety disorganization.
If you suspect that you or someone you know suffers from hoarding disorder, reach out for help. But truth be told, oftentimes it is not someone asking for help but rather circumstances that determine when hoarding gets addressed.
Organization is a skill that can be learned
The good news is that for most people under normal circumstances organization is a skill that can be learned.
Just like housekeeping, or driving a car, or changing a tire, people are not born knowing how to organize. If you have not learned, why should you expect yourself to know?
This is a lot of the work that I do - teaching people how to store and keep their belongings. I am not a specialist in chronic disorganization or hoarding disorder, and have trusted colleagues to whom I will refer cases.
Bottom line, if you or a loved one suffer from situational disorganization, chronic disorganization, or hoarding disorder, reach out. There is help available. You are not alone. There are skilled experts available to help improve your life.
When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how.
Let's RETHINK organization together.
For more information, visit the RETHINK website today.
Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes.
RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
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