What Is Hoarding vs. ADHD Clutter? (with Carolyn Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., and Randy Frost, Ph.D.)

[@88happiness]

Excellent ❤ Thank you! I don't think I'm a hoarder, ADHD clutterer all the way. I was successful throwing one thing away a day for a year, but I have trouble figuring out which docs and letters I can/should throw out. Like the lady sorting her documents. 😊 I do have a few too many empty notebooks and empty cardboard boxes though. It's worse when I'm depressed.

[@RJones-tn5vg]

Thank you for acknowledging the mentality behind this behavior and not being judgmental about it.

[@niftyknotter9363]

Good presentation. I had to speed up the audio to 1.25 speed though, and this may help others as well. Thank you for this information.

[@anneprotheroe7837]

⁰000⁰000

[@kyivstuff]

1.75 here

[@daphnelecesne2618]

Outstanding suggestion

[@katec9893]

I do this with most talking videos too! Usually 1.5 - 2 x speed otherwise I find people talk too slowly and I zone out.

[@nadiasemprini8459]

Many years ago I made creative projects using cardboard and recicled materials. So I collected or saved what I needed, and I used all the material for the project, and at the end of one project, all material was gone and the home clean. Since I became a disabled person, I continued having creative ideas and collecting all these things, but the work is slow and the ideas fast, and all that stuff is piling up. . I CAN'T get rid of a simple cardboard shoe box, . if I know that it is the exact size and type that is needed for my projects. I would have much difficulties in finding those things, now that I can't walk like before. I don't want to lose the opportunity of spending relaxing hours doing the activity I love. I have one room completely full of "stuff for projects": old dresses? good, it's fabric. old magazines? Good, for collage. Every box and packaging that my husband throws away... I check again our bins!! . Is it hoarding? Is it still hoarding, if the reason is that if I get rid of that material, in the future nobody will purchase or find it for me? I have no choice. I fiercely fight to save those materials (of no intrinsic value) and people don't understand that when the material is gone, I will no longer be capable of doing my projects. Diseases have stolen nearly everything from my life, and I don't want to get rid of my passion. Or finding an activity that needs less inventory. . Memories, memorabilia, their objects... . And not to mention all that stuff that has emotional meaning, related to my kids (they live far away now, I miss them so much!!). Some toys, I am nostalgic. Old dresses and books, they NEVER decide if they want to get rid, or bring them away, so all that stuff is here. My husband says that it would be disrespectful, if I trash things without asking for permission. So that situation is freezed. I change size depending of what pills I have to take, then I also have a double or triple wardrobe. And for this I have no choice too, because my family is so bad in buying me dresses, they always get ugly ones and not fitting. So it's an easy decision: I must keep what I already have, or I will have nothing to wear. . Last but not least, paper. I have 12 years of drawings, notes, books, all I recently studied and some historical material for a book I am writing. . It's not a great quantity of stuff, but the house is so tiny (three rooms and a bathroom), there's not space to hide things, and the clutter is visibile. Every time I try to clean (when I have the energy to start and do a little bit) the stuff seems multiplying!! Why does it keep more space when it's organized?!? . Ideas?

[@DaneArcher2000]

I can relate to your situation. Two things helped me. 1. I told my kids they had a year to come go through their childhood stuff before I would get rid of it. I reminded them every month. Of course one waited until 2 weeks before the deadline (my daughter), and my son never came. He waited the full year before finally deciding, "Just pitch it, Mom." After that, I went through their things for myself. I kept *one* book box sized container of memorabilia, awards, art projects, report cards, etc. for each of them. The rest of it I packed up and asked a friend to work it into her weekly trash for me. It hurt too much to throw away my kid's childhood items. But if my friend did it, where I couldn't see, it hurt less. After everything was gone and I was left with my two boxes of special memories I actually felt better. A lot better! 2. I've learned I don't have to hold on to an item I'm not using anymore and just keeping for sentimental value. I can take a photo of it and put that in my scrapbook so I never forget the item, and then I can donate or give the item away. I've also learned that I can scan a lot of things - report cards, award plaques, drawings, recipes, magazine amd newspaper clippings - and pitch the hard copy. I keep these images in three places, for safety and redundancy. One copy is on my computer. Another copy is on an external hard drive I keep at my house, and a 3rd copy is on an external hard drive I keep in my safety deposit box (in case of fire or theft). Every 6 months, I swap the hard drives and update the one I've brought home. In this way I can keep the memories associated with seeing an object, without having to keep the object itself. It's freed up a lot of room in my living room, bedroom and the garage. I hope you find these suggestions helpful. Take care!

[@latenitetubing]

Is there a digested version of this info somewhere? I have inattentive type and won’t get through an hour of this kind of presentation even though I will benefit from the info. It’s not accessible to me, sorry.

[@DaneArcher2000]

The title of this excellent discussion on hoarding ought to be changed because it is highly misleading. I watched through 52:44 and never was ADHD clutter characterized or quantified. The title indicates a *comparison* will be made between hoarding and ADHD clutter, but only hoarding was covered, and very well. Being ADHD, I am cluttered enough that my friends call me a hoarder, to which I take exception, especially as I don't go looking for items and suffer no compulsion to acquire things. But I understand why they do it. I live in a 900 sq ft one bdrm, one bth cottage, so space is limited. To them a small desk overflowing with papers and files must belong to a hoarder because no normal person would be able to work at a desk like that. To them having two baskets of unfolded laundry on the washing machine and dryer must be because I'm a hoarder, because they all neatly fold and put away their laundry 1-2 after it's washed. (I'm too overwhelmed with other ToDo items to bother, until I run out of clothes). To them I must be a hoarder to have a coffee table overflowing with mail and bills I have yet to go through (once a month), even though the rest of the living room is relatively clutter free. To them, my small kitchen counterspace (6 ft.x 2 1/2 ft. total) indicates I'm a hoarder because I've squeezed in a small sink, small 2 burner stove, coffee maker, espresso maker, dishdrainer, cutting board, utensil holder and four rice/oatmeal/sugar etc. plastic containers on it. In all fairness, the cutting board is often unusable as it is covered with the day's dirty dishes (wash every night after dinner - the only chore I manage to complete daily), miscellaneous correspondence and bills which require prompt attention (wouldn't want to lose them on my desk!) and other misc. kitchen accoutrements. I also have about 10 book boxes, stacked in two rows of five behind the sofa, full of items from my previous three bdrm home. I know I need to go through them and downsize but the thought of it is just overwhelming. I also use the other 1/2 of my king size bed (post divorce) for miscellaneous storage: extra pillows, a pile of clean linens and towels, some winter coats that threatened to break my tiny closet rod with their combined weight and of course a handful of file folders with data entry items I work on for an hour here or there while streaming a show. I have two armoires too many - a beautifully carved walnut one from Scotland and a cherrywood w/a carved French ornamental top sconce. One cost me some big bucks, the other I inherited. They loom over my tiny space and weigh down the cottage along with an oversized sofa, arm chair and a pair of parlor chairs leftmover from my previous home. So am I a hoarder? I will have to downsize some of furniture if I continue to stay where I am (been here five yrs.), but I hope to move into a 2-3 bedroom in another two yrs. Add in some basic slobiness I subscribe to ADD and all this has convinced my friends and family, who - with the exception of my equally messy father - live in regular sized homes with regular sized furniture with no imposing armoires, uncrowded kitchens and living/family rooms with the type of daily clutter that can be cleaned up 20 minutes before a guest arrives, that I must be a hoarder. They worry for me, and so I am embarrassed to have them over. Instead, I opt to meet them at a restaurant, event or at their homes. I haven't entertained at home in four years. I was hoping this video would afford me the criteria to show my friends and family the difference between a hoarder and someone with A.D.(H).D. But instead I'm left wondering, if maybe I *am* becoming a hoarder? Because I have no way to discern the difference between them. I'm sure you would say it's a matter of degree. But where does one draw that line? Hoarding, it seems, results in one losing function in one's home. I cannot use the other 1/2 of my bed, or my cutting board or my desk. Not easily, anyway. And don't get me started on my bathroom countertop, Does this make me a hoarder? Or is it a result of my downsizing from a larger home to a smaller one and being overwhelmed by all the tasks I must attend to daily plus all the items I must sort and decide what to do with? I don't know if anyone else can relate to trying to determine the difference between hoardkng and excessive cluttering, but it would be really helpful to me if you could change the title above to "Hoarding, what is it?" or somesuch. And then do another video where you provide criteria explaining the difference between hoarding and ADHD cluttering. Thank you very much.

[@amberaustin5028]

I di think they made quite a few distinctions

[@ziazeitgeist3773]

Question of difference asked @40:30

[@her384]

I learned a lot from this webinar, but I'm also left wondering where my situation fits in. I'd love to see photos of ADHD clutter walked through and compared to have a visual sense of where the line might be. From your descriptions, my uneducated guess is that your circumstances, including ADHD, are the major influence on your clutter. For myself, I'm inclined to try CBT and see if it helps my clutter (I'm betting it will). I love to have a label because then I can go absorb everything I can find as a layperson and methodically try advice I connect with⚡️ I think in this case, for me, I'm going to let go of definitively ID-ing where the line is (maybe I'm on the mild end? need a visual!), and start with the values question/exercise and add some visioning for what I want each area to be to support those values (b/c need that visual!). I'm lucky to have just started ADHD coaching and my coach incorporates CBT - working on a mountain of shame thru that. Then I might recruit a solid friend to body double with me for a declutter session on one area - b/c at least I know I'm ADHD and can run with that :) Thanks for sharing your situation and questions here. They were helpful to me to read and think through. I hope you find your dream house soon and that everything fits just right there.

[@daCubanaqt]

Watch the podcast# 510-Clearing the Chaos: ADHD - Informed Strategies for Tackling Clutter and Hoarding video on this channel. It is really good and breaks down the differences between hoarding and ADHD clutter more distinctly than this video.

[@wendybesse90]

This ingormation is empowering. When you understand the problem, you can find a resolution.

[@nicoles.6819]

My dad hoarded bottles. Of empty Jack Daniels. I had three trips in an Isuzu Trooper filled with hefty bags. He was an amazing father. Functioning alcoholic.

[@vasanthipremarathna6804]

While listening started organising the living space.Thanks for the motivational program!

[@brinirose7302]

This was really beneficial. Thank you for hosting this very informative webinar. 😊

[@sueciviero3866]

Is there a possibility work insurance would cover some of the cost of bringing in professional organizing experts?

[@roseh1132]

Really appreciate this podcast. Thank you 👍.

[@EclecticWizard6]

love this channel the amount of information you are sharing for free is amazing

[@redxenomorph69]

Rip 🪦 to the audio 😢I was looking forward to this webinar.

[@sandys787]

What's wrong with the audio? If you're saying it's not working, it might be on your end, double check just in case so you don't miss out!

[@rachelb.2014]

Audio is working for me

[@Mandolin523]

Wow the boxes of gifts i have never sent to them.

[@AnnieCrowe]

Disappointing to see the continual lack of understanding and mention of autism. Even in the list showing co-occurances like MDD, PTSD, OCD, SAD etc. So much of what was spoken about connects to autism - inflexible thinking, self-image struggles, etc. I would love to see ADDitude have more speakers who adequately connect ADHD and autism (more frequently) given we are seeing statistics as high as 80% overlap.

[@erica-vi7oj]

I was just thinking this weekend that maybe I've had autism my whole life and they didn't know

[@AnnieCrowe]

@@erica-vi7oj good timing! It's so commonly missed in ADHDers when stats are showing a co-occurance as high as 80% and that's only in the 10 years since the DSM even allowed them to be diagnosed together.

[@colleendeis928]

I agree 150%! Think about it, hoarding is a type of collecting, a trait commonly associated with autism. I was diagnosed last year with ADHD and I became semi obsessed with learning about ADHD. Lately I have been considering being screened for autism. There are so many women who have slipped through and struggled when it wasn’t necessary.

[@amberaustin5028]

Imagine going on an ADHD channel and complaining they didn't talk about autism 🤦‍♀️

[@daneikiss3278]

​@@amberaustin5028 especially with her tone maybe some honey instead of vinegar would get her further in life

[@daCubanaqt]

Folks, watch the podcast# 510-Clearing the Chaos: ADHD - Informed Strategies for Tackling Clutter and Hoarding video on this channel. It is really good and breaks down the differences between hoarding and ADHD clutter more distinctly than this video.

[@pamelap.123]

I had to stop listening when Carolyn was speaking because of all the "ums". But looked at the slides. Very enlightening.

[@teresahopemiller1008]

Dr, Rodriguez , could speaking publically make her nervous?or cculd she had been a person who speaks two languages so she could be thinking in a language of origin? ums happen if you arent used to public speakng or it can be done without being conscious of it! Stage fright can be overcame by picturing a audience in long john underwear or naked, LOL

[@chrisgarrett8275]

Loved the concept; too many umm’s. Had to stop listening.

[@ericaanderson2156]

The profusion of fillers in her delivery are a distraction.