Hoarding appears to be a goring problem in the United States. Every month a newspaper blares headlines about hoarders trapped in their houses, many junk removal services have built their businesses around clean up after hoarders, and there are two reality shows on television devoted to an examination of hoarding. But what are some tips that hoarders can follow to stop hoarding?

According to Gerald Nestadt, M.D., M.P.H, Director of the Johns Hopkins Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Clinic and Jack Samuels, Ph.D., an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Department of Mental Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins there are several strategies hoarder can deploy to cope with hoarding.

These strategies include:

 

  1. Make immediate decisions about mail and newspapers. Go through mail and newspapers on the day you receive them and throw away unwanted materials immediately. Don’t leave anything to be decided on later.
  2. Think twice about what you allow into your home. Wait a couple of days after seeing a new item before you buy it. And when you do purchase something new, discard another item you own to make room for it.
  3. Set aside 15 minutes a day to declutter. Start small–with a table, perhaps, or a chair–rather than tackling the entire, overwhelming house at once. If you start to feel anxious, take a break and do some deep-breathing or relaxation exercises.
  4. Dispose of anything you have not used in a year. That means old clothes, broken items, and craft projects you’ll never finish. Remind yourself that many items are easily replaceable if you need them later.
  5. Follow the OHIO rule [which apparently doesn't work in Ohio, because I'm from there]: Only Handle It Once. If you pick something up, make a decision then and there about it, and either put it where it belongs or discard it. Don’t fall into the trap of moving things from one pile to another, again and again.
  6. Ask for help if you can’t do it on your own. If you feel these strategies are impossible to carry out and you cannot cope with the problem on your own, seek out a mental health professional.

Junk Removal Services, used in conjunction with help from mental health professionals, can help hoarders regain control of their lives. Junk removal services often deal with hoarders and hoards junk removal.