Are you a collector?
No, I don't mean stamps, butterflies or coins. I mean do you collect
so many things like papers, computer parts or broken stuff that you
don't have access to your bed or shower or kitchen? In San Francisco
this is becoming such a problem that epidemic numbers of
consumer/survivors are being threatened with eviction for being a health
or fire hazard. As many as fifteen percent of affordable housing
tenants are in danger of eviction at any given time.
The San Francisco Mental Health Association has begun attacking the
problem first by offering an educational seminar on Hoarding and
Cluttering and then by facilitating support groups. There are several
approaches to the problem: educational programs, client led support
groups, personal care assistants, and therapy and/or medication.
Offered to the general public, seminars such as "Letting Go of Clutter"
through The Learning Annex, diminish some of the stigma and offer
practical solutions. (The Learning Annex is a private company that
offers courses in human potential and alternative careers at various
locations throughout the country.) Participants can obtain strategies
for reducing clutter and look at their emotional attachments to their
collections.
Support groups may be based upon the 12 step model, such as Messies
Anonymous, Clutterers Anonymous or simply peer-led discussion groups.
Sometimes setting personal cleaning goals with others to witness helps, as
does mapping out a plan, and getting someone to sit with you while you go
through your stuff.
In some cases, having a personal care assistant to help you stay
organized is another solution. The difficulty is that you may be
uncomfortable with someone else going through your things. You'll also
need to be able to specify what you want the person to do and then you
have to allow them to do it! Unfortunately, in San Francisco, as in
other areas, it is difficult to get public funding for your personal
care assistant if you don't have a physical mobility or a permanent,
stable medical disability.
Depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are mental health labels
that predispose you to having problems with collecting. They can be
treated with Cognitive therapy and/or certain medications. While some
people are relieved to know there is a label and help for what troubles
them, the downside is that this is another medical model diagnosis that
may create more stigma than help.
For practical tips on "How to Deal with Paper Clutter", created by
Victoria Tedder call Carol at 1-888-746-4463 PIN 9378. For
more information about Cluttering and Hoarding you can contact the San
Francisco Mental Health Association at 415-241-2929.
-Carol Patterson
Online Clutter Resources
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