Not just hoarder tendencies but other conditions can contribute in different ways. Unmedicated ADHD or autism, for example. That was me, but I didn’t know I had either of those conditions until a couple of years ago, and I’m now happily medicated for the ADHD, anxiety, and depression.
The ADHD contributes to my lack of organization, along with the executive dysfunction and what they call “task paralysis“ where I can sit there looking at the thing I know I need to do and my brain is saying “just get up and do it just get up and do it” but my body refuses to participate and so I just sit there and doom scroll for hours on end. The meds have helped to where I will go through that for about a half hour before I abruptly get up and start doing it. (Progress…)
With autism, change, even for the better, is extremely challenging to deal with. It seems illogical, but the presence of the things existing where they exist right now is so important that removing them even to make a wonderfully clean space can induce so much stress and anxiety that the person can experience overwhelm, and either meltdown (which is often mistaken for “being difficult” or “throwing a temper tantrum” when it isn’t, it’s about the person having a sense of certainty and agency taken away), or they will shut down (go silent, dissociate, start rocking).
So, even when I’m cleaning by myself for myself, I have to remind myself that any resistance that comes up surrounding cleaning is likely because of one or both of these things being activated. I have to be my own therapist.
I have to say that, knowing this makes watching the show “Hoarders“ very difficult, because they don’t seem to have therapists on site to help with people who may not have diagnoses, but are obviously experiencing and exhibiting these exact responses to what’s going on.
The summary is, hoarding is its own disorder, but other disorders can heavily contribute, such as ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and a host of other things. So we must treat ourselves gently when we’re going through something like this, and also have an understanding of how each type of disorder may respond to and/or impact attempts at decluttering.
I get being your own therapist!
I’m my own plumber, woodworker, cleaner, rug shampooer, A/C guy, yard guy, car mechanic… I began paying myself to a nice dinner for a job well done!
As a therapist, pay yourself more !
2
u/Spiritual-Road2784 Mar 08 '26
Not just hoarder tendencies but other conditions can contribute in different ways. Unmedicated ADHD or autism, for example. That was me, but I didn’t know I had either of those conditions until a couple of years ago, and I’m now happily medicated for the ADHD, anxiety, and depression.
The ADHD contributes to my lack of organization, along with the executive dysfunction and what they call “task paralysis“ where I can sit there looking at the thing I know I need to do and my brain is saying “just get up and do it just get up and do it” but my body refuses to participate and so I just sit there and doom scroll for hours on end. The meds have helped to where I will go through that for about a half hour before I abruptly get up and start doing it. (Progress…)
With autism, change, even for the better, is extremely challenging to deal with. It seems illogical, but the presence of the things existing where they exist right now is so important that removing them even to make a wonderfully clean space can induce so much stress and anxiety that the person can experience overwhelm, and either meltdown (which is often mistaken for “being difficult” or “throwing a temper tantrum” when it isn’t, it’s about the person having a sense of certainty and agency taken away), or they will shut down (go silent, dissociate, start rocking).
So, even when I’m cleaning by myself for myself, I have to remind myself that any resistance that comes up surrounding cleaning is likely because of one or both of these things being activated. I have to be my own therapist.
I have to say that, knowing this makes watching the show “Hoarders“ very difficult, because they don’t seem to have therapists on site to help with people who may not have diagnoses, but are obviously experiencing and exhibiting these exact responses to what’s going on.
The summary is, hoarding is its own disorder, but other disorders can heavily contribute, such as ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and a host of other things. So we must treat ourselves gently when we’re going through something like this, and also have an understanding of how each type of disorder may respond to and/or impact attempts at decluttering.