When do I know when I need a professional for extreme organizing and sorting?
It’s an interesting question that many people effected by extreme clutter and organization issues face every day. How does one know when the situation is extreme or just minor. When do you realize that you need a professional or just a friend to help.
To answer the question I decided to use questions that are used by professionals when questioning whether the situation is a ‘ normal organizing and sorting situation” or an extreme one. These questions are also being used to determine what will be mentioned in the DSM-V manual. The DSM-V is the guide determining official psychological issues. Hoarding is now considered a medical condition and recognized as one currently.
The first question asked is there a “Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with personal possessions, even those of apparently useless or limited value, due to strong urges to save items, distress, and/or indecision associated with discarding.”
In other words can the person throw away things easily even if they have no value in any way. For example, there was a home filled with trash, old furniture and hundred’s if not thousands of cigarette boxes in mint condition. The cigarette boxes were in perfect condition in plastic bags buried in all the trash filled in every room.
Why did the person collect all these boxes? It is believed that there is a psychological need to collect these items and the thought of throwing the perceived items of no value away can not be conceived by the person needing extreme organizing and sorting.
The second question is “the symptoms result in the accumulation of a large number of possessions that fill up and clutter the active living areas of the home, workplace, or other personal surroundings (e.g., office, vehicle, yard) and prevent normal use of the space. If all living areas are uncluttered, it is only because of others’ efforts (e.g., family members, authorities) to keep these areas free of possessions.
To be even more clearer, can you easily move through the home, without having to move items or make paths. Although there are different degrees of clutter or hoarding, the main question should be asked is there any possibility of health or safety issues. If there was a fire could someone easily escape without having to maneuver through.
The other questions asked relate to whether the person has brain injuries or confirmed psychological issues. If they have these issues, then the organizing and sorting is easily explained and can be controlled following suggestions based on those issues.
Although not a definite rule, major organizing and sorting issues can be related to the newly diagnosed hoarding disorder. Professional organizers are learning early that normal organizational systems created for the disorganized client do not work. New procedures and understanding of the extreme organizing and sorting client must be learned and understood.
Following the questions above may not guarantee you have a person with an issue, but will lead both you and the affected person in the right path. If you need extreme organizing assistance, call Address Our Mess for a free estimate to organize, sort and throw away items which have not been used for a while.