Hi,
Here is an article about clutter in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/he...434&ei=5087%0A
I'm not a hoarder but I am a clutterer and messy at home (office is neat for some reason):
Quote:
A Clutter Too Deep for Mere Bins and Shelves
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Published: January 1, 200
. . . Dr. Tolin recently studied compulsive hoarders using brain-scan technology. While in the scanner, hoarders looked at various possessions and made decisions about whether to keep them or throw them away. The items were shredded in front of them, so they knew the decision was irreversible.
When a hoarder was making decisions about throwing away items, the researchers saw increased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in decision-making and planning.
“That part of the brain seemed to be stressed to the max,” Dr. Tolin said. By comparison, people who didn’t hoard showed no extra brain activity.
While hoarders are a minority, many psychologists and organization experts say the rest of us can learn from them.
The spectrum from cleanliness to messiness includes large numbers of people who are chronically disorganized and suffering either emotionally, physically or socially.
Cognitive behavioral therapy may help: a recent study of hoarders showed that six months’ therapy resulted in a marked decline in clutter in the patient’s living space.
Although chronic disorganization is not a medical diagnosis, therapists and doctors sometimes call on professional organizers to help patients. One of them is Lynne Johnson, a professional organizer from Quincy, Mass., who is president of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization.
Ms. Johnson explains that some people look at a shelf stacked with coffee mugs and see only mugs.
But people with serious disorganization problems might see each one as a unique item — a souvenir from Yellowstone or a treasured gift from Grandma. . . .
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The parts in red bold sound like me.
I can't make distinctions and figure out where something goes. It all seems like it should go in the same place.
Or I make too many distinctions and imagine that everything needs its own place -- no grouping. Hard to explain I guess.
I find this lack of organization near bebilitating -- and almost as bad as not sleeping in the night time in terms of my ability to function.
And no, CBT won't help. I had enough of that crap.
Feeling lost.
M.