Getting rid of hoard - timing

[seekingERPnorthwest]

I have a hoarding problem which I'm on Bath's waiting list for - could be another 5 months' wait on top of the 2 years I was waiting before I joined their list...   I am reading some modules on distress tolerance with my care co-ordinator and one of the exercises I had to do was to keep a diary.  I did the diary, showed my care co-ordinator and then I did what I thought was a really great thing to do which was to throw out the diary.

Well, so you know that people with hoarding problems don't throw stuff out in case they need it? Well, guess what - now I need it!  I am having another go at trying to do an application for PIP - Personal Independence Payment and it says that you can keep a diary and include it as evidence.  So now I'm gutted I threw it out.  Any help in turning this into a positive??!!

I have a befriender from Mind and she came along to my accommodation which I just use for storage.  She asked me if she could get a bin bag and take away best before tea bags, oil, vinegar, cous cous, dried seaweed etc.  I said I couldn't do it myself but that she could take it away if she wanted. 

I have mixed feelings about what's happened.  I think she took at least one box of Lady Grey tea and guess what, now I'm about to run out of Lady Grey....  I wouldn't have had a problem with best before tea because it was sealed..

My befriender says she can go back to the cottage with me - with a view to throwing out more things.  I know she's being really kind and I'm really lucky to have someone who is prepared to help me.  But I'm not sure if letting her take away my things is going to solve my problems or create a new type of pain - i.e. if I "grieve" for the lost things...  Do you think that now I've waited this long I might as well wait until I get the professional help before I decide to let go or if I can give up the things earlier should try to do it?  Thanks for your help!

[PolarBear]

Over here on this side of the pond, we have several TV shows about hoarders. They drive me nuts. They send in professional crews to gut the houses and spend little time talking about the therapy that is needed.

It's easy to throw out a bunch of stuff. It is not easy to sever the emotional attachment to stuff and set things up so hoarding doesn't continue after a major cleanup.

If you can, try cleaning little bits and see how it goes. A major cleanup should wait until you are under a therapist's care. That's my opinion.

[Lynz]

We have similar shows here too, PB. It drives me crazy!

[Angst]

It can be a long wait to see somebody from the specialist centres. I saw somebody from CADAT and trying to get some more top up. The person from CADAT recommended the book Buried in Treasure. The book deals with the cognitive side of CBT as well as the behaviour changes. The leading researchers therapists are Americans. Anything by Gail Steketee and Randy O Frost will be a good read. Their latest therapy book on is Treatment for Hoarding Disorder Workbook. I think reading about the therapy will be good in itself and as preparation for Bath.

The people from Bath and CADAT tend to recommend very similar things.

I think that you and your befriender could benefit from reading one of the books and jointly sort and organise a limited space. But be guided by the therapeutic literature.

Keep secure any financial documentation from DWP and have photocopies all all documentation sent to DWP. I have had to correct them in the past.

Each person is different but I would accept the offer and do some joint work.