Mental Health and Saving vs. Purging
This blog is going to be much like my cleaning method. We’re going to face the mess in order to clean it up. We will dig deep into the nitty gritty icky yucky then scrub, rinse, dry, polish and come out sparkling! Then all we’ll need moving forward is maintenance. But before you dive in, I would you like you to know, this is not a blog trying to sell you a product in quick bullet points and 13 seconds. It’s life-changing advice and solutions I am passionate about teaching to others.
One thing I am aware of is that I am wired a bit differently from other people in a way that used to be and still sometimes is a burden. However over the years, I have worked hard on directing the energy into a positive, highly efficient force. I remember being diagnosed with OCD as a teenager and feeling relieved I had a label to refer my weird stuff to. It wasn’t my fault and it can be treated now. After a few months of some intense desensitizing therapy to rid me of this awful stuff, I cried to my mom how much I hated it. I realized I didn’t actually want to get rid of it because it made me me and my mom said one day I’ll use it for great. She was right. When I say I have a decade of experience, that’s only counting business. I have loved to clean and organize for everyone in my life my whole life. Maybe that’s why mom agreed that I shouldn’t rid myself of my super powers.
A popular misconception is that obsessive compulsive and hoarding disorders are 2 separate mental illnesses located on opposite ends of one spectrum. However, I believe that most of us fall somewhere on both spectrums concurrently. I usually notice tendencies from people I meet right away, especially clients because I am seeing inside their homes and discussing their personal problem areas. Also, I live with housemates from varying cultures, backgrounds, and upbringings, all of which play into this notion. Even I have varying degrees of compulsions and obsessions for hoarding as well as for purging. As a matter of fact, my hoarding and purging tendencies come from the same general ideas.
I grew up lower middle class so I wore hand me downs and developed a love for thrifting. As a result, I am inclined to repurpose anything and everything rather than replace if possible. I also am able to detach sentimental value easily to material things like furniture and clothing. The “one man’s trash is another’s treasure” adage means a lot to me in both directions. I also am able to give sentimental items away as quickly as I received them, which for some people is much more difficult. Especially if the item has financial value as well. Items with financial and sentimental value separately can be difficult to detached from, even more so possessing both values at once. My parents valued practicality and repurposing to save money. But immigrants and children of (especially with a culture that has a history of genocide), tend to save for reasons of sentimentality along with saving money. Like we discussed, two types of values is much more difficult to separate with. On the other hand, people who had a more financially fortunate upbringing have difficulty detaching with material items because of the cost itself; additionally if the item was a gift, to add the sentimental value. Basically we are all cut from the same cloth, yet form totally different quilts.
It is so very important to talk about mental health during a time that everyone in the world is feeling new anxieties and uncertainties. One thing that is certain is that we will suffer together if we don’t help each other out.
