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Oct 24, 2011, 05:58 PM
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This is a subject I find quite interesting because of the various levels, thought patterns and factors involved. It's complex.
I think it's really important to distinguish between messy and hoarding. Because they're not the same. Sure, hoarding is messy, but messy isn't hoarding. Simply messy as opposed to hoarding can seem the same to the outside eye, but what's going on inside the head isn't the same. All they really seem to share is often giving a sense of overwhelm.
My mother is DEFINITELY a hoarder. And very likely BP (among other things). Undiagnosed, because she has always been in a massive amount of denial and you'd never get her to seek help in a million years. Despite the extreme effects on functioning and relationships. So, as you can imagine all this stuff has gotten a lot of thought. We're very different. What's going on? Why?
I found this article quite interesting. It talks about relationships between hoarding, OCD, depression and perfectionism. OCD and perfectionism seem counterintuitive, don't they? But in fact a lot of the thought patterns make sense.
http://www.anxietycare.org.uk/docs/hoarding.asp
Here are some of my thoughts:
Re: Bipolar. When depressed, I think virtually all of us get messy. When hypomanic, not all of us exhibit the same set of symptoms. Maybe one turns this energy into cleaning, another to hypersexuality for instance. Over-buying is a frequent manifestion. This accumulation can lead to feeling overwhelmed by sheer volume. In my own case, (not at the time of acquisition, but later) I'm compelled to "get rid of the evidence", among other things. I do think there can be a connection with BP in terms of messy and too much stuff. Tolerance for messiness is a matter of personality, philosophy or what have you, and doesn't negate how BP can be connected for some. Not saying it causes it per se, but that the cycles of depression (don't care, can't keep up) and hypo/mania (excessive buying/possible later overwhelm) sure don't help.
(Btw, Natalya, upon further reflection to your original question, it seemed worth mentioning... Though I can definitely get carried away with cleaning and "just so", there are two times when I am messy. When depressed, for sure. And during hypomania in the midst of over-the-top projects. So, as much as my OCD sense of order would revel in it, the neat thing isn't a constant!  )
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