Boxes of old stuff, piles of clothes, does this sound like your house? For many this is more than a mess, it's a medical problem. Tonight Chris May takes us into the world of "Compulsive Clutter".
Jim
"Obviously it is out of control with stuff."
Piles of papers, magazines, boxes filled with mystery items and somebody else's trash.
Jim
"Some old envelopes from a business that changed their address... we rescued them."
"Jim", not his real name, has been collecting clutter for more than 20 years.
Jim
"I turned our vertical shower into a storage facility."
Clutter taking over this room used to take over Jim's entire Connecticut home... to the point were he and his wife stopped having company.
Jim
"The table was completely littered and I had piles completely surrounding every space on the floor."
Jim suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder known as hoarding. People with this disorder feel compelled to acquire and save items many of us consider junk.
Years of newspapers could contain vital information. Piles of receipts represent days in their lives. Some even collect larger items from the trash.
Dr. Gail Steketee, Boston University
"Some of it's anxiety. ‘If I get rid of this then I have lost something and made a major mistake.' Some of it is kind of a grief reaction, ‘I will never be able to manage it, I will be so upset about it.' Sometimes it's a sense of guilt and responsibility."
Medication and traditional therapy hasn't been enough. So doctors are taking a more aggressive approach with a new treatment manual.
For the next couple years, they'll be putting it to the test in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Dr. Gail Steketee, Boston University
"It will include exposure to situations that are difficult for them to resist on a very graduated basis."
One method "drive by shopping", driving by a hard to resist place or sale. Then working toward going inside, picking up a tempting item and having the will power to put it back.
Beth Johnson, Clutter Workshop
"Do you know what's in the next box?"Jim
"I don't... golf tees."
Jim is going through similar therapy with professional clutter coach, Beth Johnson.
Jim
"At the time this was a unique patented different kind of golf tee."Beth Johnson, Clutter Workshop
"Is there a purpose now in your life for this item?"Jim
"There is no logical, necessary purpose for this."
Johnson convinces Jim to give away those golf tees. It took a huge scare over an inheritance before Jim could get this kind of help.
Jim
"I lost a six-figure check within the house."
Jim eventually had to ask for a new check. Now, room by room he's working on getting his house back. Remember those stacks of envelopes...
Jim hopes by next year his house will be clutter-free.
For more information:
To get a hold of Beth Johnson at the Clutter Workshop:
115 Washington Circle
West Hartford, CT 06119-2027
www.clutterworkshop.com
Phone: 860-232-3838
Email: jletgo@juno.comBeth Johnson is in the process of setting up a clutter workshop in the Boston Area. Log on to her Web site for details: www.clutterworkshop.com
Click here to Learn more about Dr. Gail Steketee's study or to be a part of it.
For help you can also contact the Boston University Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at 617-353-9610.
