Ever walked into somebody’s house and been totally shocked by the mountains of who-knows-what?

It’s like every conceivable gap has begged to be filled in and now you're asking why you agreed to visit at all.

First thing that comes to mind is likely ‘hoarders’ and in part this is true because it’s certainly a hoard of something. Clothing, papers, bags, dishes, dirt and other things undistinguishable. Except this situation is not a hoarding disorder per se.’ The resident of such mayhem has never been given such a diagnosis. You’re not after all climbing over walls of newspaper or discovering some long-dead thing entombed in moth chewed sewing fabrics.

What’s different here is that simultaneously there is some type of order in all the chaos.

Is that even possible?

You might be familiar with the hoarder’s fear of letting some of their possessions go because they might need them later, or the insatiable drive to hold onto the remnants of a life belonging to somebody else who has died.

Both those reasons are deeply rooted in some kind of psychological trauma which is a far cry from normal levels of sentimentality.

If we take parts of the problem areas posed above and apply it to people with diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD for instance, the picture looks different yet similar, leaving onlookers confused over odd mess that somehow still manages to look functionable.

At any rate, when we are introduced to another person’s private space at their home like this, we don’t exactly walk away again without clutter on the mind.

= DOOM + PILES (of stuff)

With ADHD the brain is wired to function differently. Then if somebody living with ADHD undergoes major loss or trauma, even if they grew up where clutter and hoarding tendencies were the norm, then the leaning toward unnecessary accumulation of items for them doesn’t seem so extreme as it would be to another person.

One thing a person with ADHD cannot stand is when another person touches their doom piles. And if they have given you permission to go there, don’t go thinking you’ll be trying to sort the clutter unsupervised.

More likely then not, if you try to organize the disorganized, you’ll be lucky to walk away with both your hands. Not easy.

The more clutter the more stress. This includes the increase in fire safety hazards, further social isolation and often severe family conflict.

Persons diagnosed with ADHD tend to leave items out as visual reminders.

Think medications or water bottles, dishwashing liquid or shampoo, the correct shoes near the back door or the hat on a hook right in front of your face as you go to walk outside. It might be anything else deemed important. But each item serves as an ongoing prompt for what needs to happen, like drink water, take an allergy tablet, be ready for an appointment and put the washing on.

This strategy to assist in self-management and regulation is not so far-a-cry from what one might do to remember people’s names. To do that, a person might assign a visual cue in mind to help them recall that somebody’s name is ‘Roger’ let’s say, so the mental image might be of the cartoon ‘Roger Ramjet.’

ADHD individuals use this like-strategy naturally it seems, to help propel them through their day, or face the frustration and despair of finding it hard to focus and remember; literally debilitating.

With more and more on our to-do-lists in life it is little wonder that those with neurodivergent brains struggle and are prone to earlier states of burnout and other psychological issues.

When that happens the doom piles at home become more like unchanging and predictable pillars contrasted with the huger then life ‘doom weight’' of assumed normal everyday life of the general population.

What’s next: The above list are areas that contribute to the accumulated doom piles.

What is evident is not a sign of laziness as some might have previously believed.

To be truly lazy infers a deliberate choice by somebody without health challenges to substitute what must occur with what is the opposite. Eg: “I was due at work in half an hour, so I decided to squeeze in a drink but fell asleep. This made me late so when I woke up again, I just shut my eyes, I’d tell my boss I was sick.”

Some people find it really difficult to just stop.

These are the ones who are always on the go, rush, rush, rush, like the white rabbit.

This can be attributed to a fear of actually being forced to confront painful memories and emotions, so they fill their minds with a mirage of constant high-priority engagements and appointments.

In turn clutter can accumulate this way too because there’s no time clean and organize themselves and if there is no hired help for this…yeah, well you get the drift.

But again, this outwardness can be a mirror of the chaos of unresolved bereavement and stressful events.

As we age, clutter can become more and more dangerous as the risk of falls is amplified. Too, it can result in unsanitary living conditions because the aged cannot move about so freely with loss of mobility and agility.

The eyes are organs directly linked to the brain. What we see can alter how productive we are and if our space is filled with clutter then this is what ends up competing for our attention, hindering productivity and decreasing memory.

It’s a vicious cycle.

We have trauma-related collecting of items that provide a sense of reassurance and calm to the collector, and we have the holding onto items with the idea of ‘just in case they are needed,’ scenario after losing a loved one; the desperate need to keep filling the looming, psychological gaps that are so painful to deal with.

We try to squash it all away underneath the piles of stuff so we can be confronted instead with things that supposedly replace what’s lost somehow or make us feel more secure like having a warm blanket enclosing us, yet simultaneously we are left drowning instead with this added layer to our emotional problems.

We look at the clutter both wanting and hating it.

We think we need it. We don’t. And that’s the problem.

The idea of managing it all better is foreign and that’s because the unsightly clutter, has become us.

Strip the clutter away and we are left vulnerable, exposed, forced to revisit what is emotionally engulfing. It’s far too scary. So, we become stuck. Unable to move back or move forward.

Our steering becomes left centered with both feet in the pothole. That’s why whenever you see cases of hoarders on television and the family is also emotionally dying around the gatherer of stuff, the situation is incredibly intense.

The owner of clutter, over years and years, has progressively become worse because the scene is not managed early on. And that’s part of the challenge, because these people have not been able to access or certainly recognize in themselves that their life scene is a health disorder that requires the correct attention. Then the issue cascades like a snow-ball and can lead to compulsive hoarding which is more difficult again to treat.

This being said, not all people who have a tendency to hold onto clutter however will necessarily have a diagnosis of something like ADHD, it really depends on other factors as well like intellectual disabilities and disorders of the brain including major developmental delay and head traumas from accidents such as from a car collision, fall at work, or sporting injuries to name a few.

Whatever the framework to why exactly somebody stores too much clutter and finds it a challenge to sort it, individual healthcare plans are necessary to assist in the road to improvement, arranged first by way of a G.P or other treating specialist.

Additionally, family members who are dealing with anxiety disorders from the long haul of confrontation with clutter made by somebody else, also need individualized support plans to help them cope better.

One thing is sure - yelling and arguing and throwing any kind of hissy fit out of frustration and anger at the one with the hoarding disorder will reap no good results. To the contrary.

The person who struggles with collecting is most likely to clam up further, despite any well-meaning attempts to assist them tidy up. Their defense shackles will be on red alert because remember, it won’t be the issue of the clutter that the one with the disorder will take as the point at hand, it will be viewed as an attack on their person-on themselves, and as we’ve discussed, this is a very vulnerable zone for them.

Understanding the difference will help a lot.

Patience and kindness, though it feels extremely difficult and you may have tried for so long to display this, will also not save the day, and so this too can lead to layers of resentment when results are not seen for your long-suffering.

Only trained, skillful medical professionals in different capacities like psychology, psychiatry, occupational therapy etc. can help all involved effectively.

Seeking out the right help and then doing your own part to support the one with the hoarding disorder can never be underestimated.