Re: Hoarding

[Guest guest]

>

>

> That empty sugar bags under the bed thing is weird. I hate mice and

> it gave me the heebie jeebies to think of it. I literally shivered. lol

>

> BJ

>

Well, it was under the bed that was piled and surrounded with stuff for

who knows how long, so she wouldn't have seen those sugar bags for

years. I gave me the creeps when I went to grab one, expecting it to be

heavy and it was just the paper. I never saw any mice in her house, but

I'm sure they had a field day in there because they could live

undetected and in peace! :-)

Dina

[Guest guest]

My grandmother was like that too. (my mom, my brother, and me also have OCD).

I cleaned out her house after she passed away, since I was the only relative in

town. Prior to her death, I would have to clean her fridge and cupboards out

and get rid of stuff that had expired 5 years before. We, too, thought it was

because she lived through the depression.

Laurie

Dina <dina.n.jones@...> wrote:

My grandmother was a hoarder, and I realized her house was uncomfortably

stuffed as a child, but kind of thought it was cool in a child

exploratory kind of way. I found really cool stuff in those piles and

stashed in her closets--plenty of costume jewelry! :-) Looking back,

now of course I recognize the problem. There was just a small aisle

from her kitchen through her living room. Stacks of stuff. I remember

my dad having to go through her refrigerator about once a month and she

would just stand there and cry and yell " no! " while he chucked rotting

food and milk into a garbage can. I also remember seeing the same home

canned food on her basement shelves the whole 18 years I lived by her!

Never even moved. EEK! After she died, we went through the spare

bedroom, which was just jammed and found bags and bags of sugar that she

had stuffed under the bed. Only problem was that mice had found her

stash and eaten every ounce of sugar, but the bags looked intact.

Incredible. My dad always said that she was like that because they had

lived through the depression and I thought that sounded reasonable.

So, I guess my DD's OCD is just another aspect of the anxiety spectrum

of disorders that run on that side of the family.

Dina

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[Guest guest]

wow...bowling balls. That takes the cake. My g'ma just had a bunch of lawn

ornaments!

svdbyhislove <BJClosner@...> wrote: Dina, your grandma's house sounds

like my sister in law's house. She

does weird things with the junk she collects. For instance, she has

bowling balls lying all over her lawn and she tells people they are

dinosaur eggs. @@ She has a toilet in her living room that she has a

tree growing out of. When we bought a new toilet for our house we

wouldn't tell her for fear she would want the old one to use it

similarly. She also has cheese dishes, you know the glass covered

thingies, all over her house, with her little collections under them.

That way she doesn't have to dust the little doodads she has under

them. She drills holes through rocks and hangs them everywhere. For

Christmas our son usually gets a 5 gallon bucket full of this and

that, usually overflowing with all the stuff. She embraces her

behavior though, and thinks anyone who doesn't live like she does is

weird. But she is also the one who washes her hands before she goes

to the bathroom (because she doesn't want to contaminate herself), but

not after (because she doesn't care if she contaminates other people).

And she gets on my case for not washing the outside of every single

thing I buy at the grocery store. I told her I just don't have time

for that, and we haven't died. lol It's strange the things OCD can

make one think.

That empty sugar bags under the bed thing is weird. I hate mice and

it gave me the heebie jeebies to think of it. I literally shivered. lol

BJ

>

> My grandmother was a hoarder, and I realized her house was

uncomfortably

> stuffed as a child, but kind of thought it was cool in a child

> exploratory kind of way. I found really cool stuff in those piles and

> stashed in her closets--plenty of costume jewelry! :-) Looking back,

> now of course I recognize the problem. There was just a small aisle

> from her kitchen through her living room. Stacks of stuff. I remember

> my dad having to go through her refrigerator about once a month and she

> would just stand there and cry and yell " no! " while he chucked rotting

> food and milk into a garbage can. I also remember seeing the same home

> canned food on her basement shelves the whole 18 years I lived by her!

> Never even moved. EEK! After she died, we went through the spare

> bedroom, which was just jammed and found bags and bags of sugar that

she

> had stuffed under the bed. Only problem was that mice had found her

> stash and eaten every ounce of sugar, but the bags looked intact.

> Incredible. My dad always said that she was like that because they had

> lived through the depression and I thought that sounded reasonable.

>

> So, I guess my DD's OCD is just another aspect of the anxiety spectrum

> of disorders that run on that side of the family.

>

> Dina

>

Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed at:

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louisharkins@... .

[Guest guest]

I would find that to be in poor taste too, , probably because our

perspective is different being so affected by OCD daily. But, you

know, I find most people think they know what OCD is because they've

heard of it, yet they really haven't a clue. So I guess you can chalk

the media up into that category too.

BJ

> >

> > My grandmother was a hoarder, and I realized her house was

> uncomfortably

> > stuffed as a child, but kind of thought it was cool in a child

> > exploratory kind of way. I found really cool stuff in those piles and

> > stashed in her closets--plenty of costume jewelry! :-) Looking back,

> > now of course I recognize the problem. There was just a small aisle

> > from her kitchen through her living room. Stacks of stuff. I remember

> > my dad having to go through her refrigerator about once a month

and she

> > would just stand there and cry and yell " no! " while he chucked

rotting

> > food and milk into a garbage can. I also remember seeing the same

home

> > canned food on her basement shelves the whole 18 years I lived by

her!

> > Never even moved. EEK! After she died, we went through the spare

> > bedroom, which was just jammed and found bags and bags of sugar that

> she

> > had stuffed under the bed. Only problem was that mice had found her

> > stash and eaten every ounce of sugar, but the bags looked intact.

> > Incredible. My dad always said that she was like that because they

had

> > lived through the depression and I thought that sounded reasonable.

> >

> > So, I guess my DD's OCD is just another aspect of the anxiety

spectrum

> > of disorders that run on that side of the family.

> >

> > Dina

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

My husband has used that excuse for his father too, but I pointed out

that my parents also lived through that era and don't do that. . . So,

I think it's safe to chalk it up to OCD. My father in law also has

very old food that he has stockpiled. He occasionally gives it to us,

so I politely take it, then chuck it later. The one that even freaked

my hubby out though, was when his Dad was eating MREs from WWII. They

are well off and do not need to eat those, but apparently he found

them at a parking lot sale from a local store and couldn't pass up the

sale.

BJ

> My grandmother was a hoarder, and I realized her house was

uncomfortably

> stuffed as a child, but kind of thought it was cool in a child

> exploratory kind of way. I found really cool stuff in those piles and

> stashed in her closets--plenty of costume jewelry! :-) Looking back,

> now of course I recognize the problem. There was just a small aisle

> from her kitchen through her living room. Stacks of stuff. I remember

> my dad having to go through her refrigerator about once a month and she

> would just stand there and cry and yell " no! " while he chucked rotting

> food and milk into a garbage can. I also remember seeing the same home

> canned food on her basement shelves the whole 18 years I lived by her!

> Never even moved. EEK! After she died, we went through the spare

> bedroom, which was just jammed and found bags and bags of sugar that

she

> had stuffed under the bed. Only problem was that mice had found her

> stash and eaten every ounce of sugar, but the bags looked intact.

> Incredible. My dad always said that she was like that because they had

> lived through the depression and I thought that sounded reasonable.

>

> So, I guess my DD's OCD is just another aspect of the anxiety spectrum

> of disorders that run on that side of the family.

>

> Dina

>

>

> Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be

accessed at: / .

> Our list advisors are Gail B. ,

Ed.D.(http://www.ocdawareness.com ), Tamar Chansky, Ph.D.(

http://www.worrywisekids.org ), Dan Geller, M.D.

(http://massgeneral.org/pediatricpsych/staff/geller.html ),Aureen

Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., ( http://www.lighthouse-press.com ). Our list

moderators are Birkhan, Castle, Joye, Kathy

Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy . Subscription issues or

suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... .

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My father is known as a " packrat " in our family. If he thought something could

potentially be useful, he had a terrible time throwing anything away. I once

asked him for something and he had not one, but two to choose from -- and he had

had them for over 25 years! (I don't know if my mom & siblings have forgiven me

yet, since it added fuel to his fire.) At one point, my mom gave my brother

permission to do some cleaning out and it nearly started WW III. It's been over

10 years now and I hear from my mom that my dad sometimes still brings up one

particular (broken) thing that she allowed him to get rid of.

You can imagine how difficult it was when my parents downsized a few years ago

from a 6-room house with a 2 car garage (with storage above) to a single-wide

trailer, and then a few years later to full-timing in an RV! My mom has now made

a rule that if something new comes in, something else has to go.

P.

wallflower <wallflower67@...> wrote:

My grandmother was like that too. (my mom, my brother, and me also

have OCD). I cleaned out her house after she passed away, since I was the only

relative in town. Prior to her death, I would have to clean her fridge and

cupboards out and get rid of stuff that had expired 5 years before. We, too,

thought it was because she lived through the depression.

Laurie

Dina <dina.n.jones@...> wrote:

My grandmother was a hoarder, and I realized her house was uncomfortably

stuffed as a child, but kind of thought it was cool in a child

exploratory kind of way. I found really cool stuff in those piles and

stashed in her closets--plenty of costume jewelry! :-) Looking back,

now of course I recognize the problem. There was just a small aisle

from her kitchen through her living room. Stacks of stuff. I remember

my dad having to go through her refrigerator about once a month and she

would just stand there and cry and yell " no! " while he chucked rotting

food and milk into a garbage can. I also remember seeing the same home

canned food on her basement shelves the whole 18 years I lived by her!

Never even moved. EEK! After she died, we went through the spare

bedroom, which was just jammed and found bags and bags of sugar that she

had stuffed under the bed. Only problem was that mice had found her

stash and eaten every ounce of sugar, but the bags looked intact.

Incredible. My dad always said that she was like that because they had

lived through the depression and I thought that sounded reasonable.

So, I guess my DD's OCD is just another aspect of the anxiety spectrum

of disorders that run on that side of the family.

Dina

Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed at:

/ .

Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D.(http://www.ocdawareness.com ), Tamar

Chansky, Ph.D.( http://www.worrywisekids.org ), Dan Geller, M.D.

(http://massgeneral.org/pediatricpsych/staff/geller.html ),Aureen Pinto Wagner,

Ph.D., ( http://www.lighthouse-press.com ). Our list moderators are

Birkhan, Castle, Joye, Kathy Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy

. Subscription issues or suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins,

list owner, at louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... ,

louisharkins@... .

[Guest guest]

Wow! this string is exactly what I have needed to read. My daughter

is so emotionally attached to her stuff, it drives me nuts. There are

so many things that finally make sense!

She deals with the shoe thing as well. When school begins every fall,

she bawls about wearing new shoes because they feel weird. (She is

generally barefoot all summer.) She still wears clothes that she

outgrew years ago (to bed), but will not wear something new that fits

perfectly if it " feels weird. " She ends up completely losing control

if I force it. It's like she gets the heebie jeebies!

She cannot stand to throw anything away. Last year, her teacher let

the students take home posters that he was not going to use the next

year in his classroom. She still has two of them shoved into a corner

and cannot get rid of them because she " loves " them. This is just one

of thouseands of examples!

The final straw has been that lately she will not keep any of her

clothes in her dresser drawers. They all have to be on her floor

where she can see them. I thought she was just being lazy. I went in

and picked them all up. She cried for hours because I touched her

stuff and she coudn't find anything. I am now trying to work with her

on finding ways to put things away without feeling like she is losing

them.

I will sometimes get rid of things while she is gone and she won't

notice. But if she does knows, it is painful for her and most of the

time she cannot handle letting go. We now have boxes under her bed of

her precious items that she has not seen since we put them under. As

long as she knows they are there, she is fine.

Fortunately, she is not hiding food as much as she used to. We would

find corn dogs, peanut butter, crackers, apples, you name it, under

her bed and in drawers. She said it was in case she got hungry at

night. We used to joke that she must have starved to death in a

previous life! Of course it is nothing to joke about, but it was

laugh or cry.

I am so glad to read about others in similar situations. Thanks so

much for sharing!

> > > Hi. My son is 13 years old and has been diagnosed with ocd

> > hoarding.

> > > We have been dealing with his inability to discard anything all

> his

> > > life. For example, sarting at a very young age, he would get

very

> > upset

> > > if I tried to thow away the shoes he had outgrown. He'd have a

> new

> > > pair of shoes, but I would have hide the old ones until he had

> > > forgotten about them and then throw them away secretly. now, he

> has

> > a

> > > toy room full of toys he's way too old for, but can't part with

> any

> > of

> > > it, not even the toys he got from Burger King.

> > >

> > > I've never participated in a group before, so I'm in the

process

> of

> > > learning how to navigate. What I'm looking for is what other

> > parents

> > > with children that hoard have done. What has worked and what

> > hasn't?

> > > I don't know where to start. The psychiatrist I am taking him

to

> is

> > of

> > > little help, other than to prescibe some medication. What can I

> do

> > to

> > > help my son?

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be

> > accessed at:

/ .

> > > Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D.

> > (http://www.ocdawareness.com ), Tamar Chansky, Ph.D.(

> > http://www.worrywisekids.org ), Dan Geller, M.D.

> > (http://massgeneral.org/pediatricpsych/staff/geller.html ),Aureen

> > Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., ( http://www.lighthouse-press.com ). Our

list

> > moderators are Birkhan, Castle, Joye, Kathy

> > Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy . Subscription issues

or

> > suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

> > louisharkins@ , louisharkins@ , louisharkins@ .

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

I soak my produce in hydrogen peroxide and if there is any mold you can watch it

bubble. If I was better I would get an ozone machine that does that for food but

right now my cash goes for Lyme/fungal treatments. cathy

>

> I'm not a hoarder, but it truely has been very hard to keep my house as clean

as it needs to be because of my fatique. I really could care less about material

things these days, the less the better in my view.

> I have a hard enough time keeping the floors,dishes and laudry done and

keeping things that mold attacrts to out of my life.

> cant even leave a cup of coffee setting or fruit setting out on the counter

for grandkids, cant tell you how many times a small dot of mold growing on a

orange as tottally messed me up. I just have tottally given up on fresh fruit,

and keeping the trash dumped on a daily bases is very important, keeping the

fridge cleaned out, bakeing soda in the sink drains, things regular people dont

even worry about.

>

[Guest guest]

jeanine you mentioned fruit in your post, the other day we were buying some

apples when my g/f picked up a nectarine and right where the stem came out of

the top it was covered with mold. I about lost it right there, just the sight of

anything moldy makes me want to run. even if i see it on tv it gives me the

heebe jeebes

cant even leave a cup of coffee setting or fruit setting out on the counter for

grandkids,