The Mess
Top of The Heap – washingtonpost.com: When you walked in, all you could think was dog pee. (Where? In the rugs?) Clutter was stacked high as the ceiling in every small room, including the plastic-shelf clutter one accumulates in hopes of organizing clutter.
This isn’t clutter. It’s garbage. And people who let their house get as filled with garbage as these people did aren’t messy — they’re mentally ill.
I suppose it’s a nice thing that they were able to find people willing to help them clean the garbage out of their house, but I have to wonder how well these people are going to be able to maintain it without some really serious professional psychological help.
The condition of their house approaches an area that “Clean House” usually tries to avoid — a level of filth that suggests psychological disorder.
Uh… it doesn’t just approach that level. It’s all the way there. This kind of hoarding isn’t in any way normal.
You’ll have to read the entire Washington Post article to get the full picture of just how far gone these people are. It’s more than just the mess, the couple is also into a “magical thinking” sort of deal a’la The Secret. It’s very sad and, unfortunately, their having been selected for the reality TV “Clean House” thing is probably just going to reinforce their belief in such nonsense.
The kinder thing would have been to spend less on remodeling their house and put some of that money towards counseling.
How long do you think it will be before they’ve re-trashed their house? I’d give them a year. Probably less.
Posted by RebeccaHartong on June 28, 2008 under Life
There seems to be a correlation indeed between our outside mess and our inside mess. Maybe that’s also why we feel good when we clean up and organize. You are right to say that helping them arrange their house without addressing the root of what caused that way beyond normal and reasonable mess (garbage indeed) is not going to be a real help and they are just going to re-create the condition.
I’d have to argue with this a little. My ‘argument’ would be in clumping anyone who’s had this problem into the huge generality of ‘all of them’/ I could be labeled as mentally ill if someone feels they must label me. Instead I prefer to openly admit that I’ve got issues, serious ones and not serious ones, and I work at it every day to eliminate the ones I can, and learn to live with the ones that are chemically in me that won’t be ‘cured’; but I refuse to believe I’m a lost cause. And I expect noone to deal with my issues but myself; likewise I won’t be judged by them either!
The photo you showed was very mild compared to the mess I got myself into. It didn’t happen over night – It took about 2.5 yrs to develop. First it was a rebellion, then it was hoarding, then it was simply going through life with blinders on and even when I did want to fix it – it was so overwhelming I’d give up in no time flat. To include the spare room which smelled like piss from the previous owners – a carpet I never could get clean and finally just closed the door on. I had friends and family members offer to help me – and I just couldn’t let them. At first it was pure determination to face this myself and conquer it myself, which eventually turned into sheer embarrassment that I didn’t want anyone to see how I lived. I even hired people to come help me only to cancel on them because I was to embarrassed to even let hired help in my house.
Eventually it was sort of an intervention movement of a friend who wouldn’t take no for an answer. They just pushed past me and it was going to happen whether I helped or not. And yes – it was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever experienced. But after living like that – I’m MUCH better now at staying on top of things because I never want to live like that again.
So yes – some people may re-wreck their place in months or a year; others may realize what a wonderful gift that a clean house is and will be better for it for the rest of their lives. And they will ultimately become better or healthier for it because they will also be happier.