anyone with EXTREME difficulties cleaning and decluttering?

Reading the posts, I see people who clean when hypomanic, some assisted by an additional dx of OCD. Before lithium, I also had urges to clean or rearrange furniture, but I could do little, like a small project, not the whole house. The whole house has always been a mess. Some flavors of how extreme the problem has been: 1) starting in adolescence, I had instances of not inviting a would-be lover in because I did not want to show my place. The lovers ultimately became lovers anyway, but the prime moment was lost . 2) On a much more serious note, I could not keep house when I still lived with my kids and therefore they could not have play dates and sleepovers, they would always be going over to someone else's place, and I knew that one of my daughters did not like it but that knowledge did not move me. Oh, and I disabled my then husband's ability to clean, pretty much disallowed him. Added to that was manic shopping for unneeded stuff that made the house overflow, guaranteeing 100% that I would not be able to tidy up. 3) I am now sick at home with a thyroid dysfunction, which is a result of lithium intake. My local chain grocery store delivers (thanks to my case manager for telling me about it!), but I would also like foods from an ethnic grocery, and I have co-workers who live nearby and would be ready to oblige, but I cannot show them my apartment, I will lose their professional respect if they see how I live.

Yesterday I cleared my table, which serves as a computer desk as well. I feel so accomplished. But what about the rest of the boxes, piles, papers?

plus for some reason I am just not moved. The stove is dirty - it is dirty, it does not motivate me. Bring any of you hypomaniac cleaners into my apartment and there would be enough work for a whole brigade.

My mother was EXACTLY like that: could not clean, could not declutter, and overbought stuff. My other relatives were from so-so to extremely tidy grandfathers, but I guess they did not pass on their genes.

To make the long story short, is there anyone in the same boat?

I have a problem with hoarding because I have limited means, so I worry that I may get rid of something that I'll have to buy again.

I clean my apartment multiple times a day (pick up) but it is by no means clean unless I get hypomanic....My closets are stuffed with junk I don't need, all my drawers too. My counters are full....I am kind of a pack rat, although the other day, I went through the bathroom cupboard and threw away a whole garbage bag full of junk....but that's as far as I got...when I don't really have anywhere to put stuff, it all gets thrown into the closets or drawers....until months later I go through and organize everything.

I am extreme difficult organizing my clutter. It is very hard to put things in their place because I don't have a place in mind. I did an episode of Hoarders:Buried Alive and we got rid of some of the clutter but there wasn't much real organizing going on and now I cannot find things, especially in my kitchen. Organizer packed away all my cookbooks into boxes so they are no longer accessible, she cleared stuff away to make it look good for the show but no concern for it being functional for me.

We just recently started a social group here. Hope you join us.

Can you please give me a pointer to the group? I will be glad to join!

http://forums.psychcentral.com/group.php?groupid=213

<Cough>... think I recognize myself in that first sentence.
And I DEFINITELY recognize my mother in the rest. Though not dx'd, she's "got stuff" for sure, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if some dx would be the same as mine. Some of it just plays out very differently. (I think that the debate of hoarding being part of OCD, or whether it should be catagorized elsewhere is a very interesting one. Hope I put that ok, it came out a little weird.).Soooo, I'm not in the same boat, but have experience with it and what a frustrating beastie it can be.

We can raise a brigade if you would like that!

I am extremelly messy person (my place always looks like a ground zero), but I don't think it comes from my bipolar though.

Thank you, I need that badly! I have a storage to clean out all by myself once I rise from this illness, and I will post a progress note from time to time. Then you can be a support brigade!

I think it might. I have been reading a book titled "Breaking the Bipolar Cycle" (which I recommend enthusiastically) and it talks a whole lot about challenges that are not in the realm of mood. Information processing challenges, and stemming from them, challenges in getting started on projects, in organizing, basically in what we call project management or executive functions. It does not talk about messiness per se, but it talks about processing large amounts of information, as in studying. Studying was not difficult for me at all, but that was so long ago, I do not know how it would be now. But decluttering is basically taking in and processing a large amount of information. That is why I think it is bipolar. Also, I "inherited" it from my bipolar mother and did not inherit clean traits from other relatives despite close contact, which also makes me think it is bipolar.

well, I can process information quite well. And I can orientate in my ground zero mess quite well too. That's why I think I am just messy person (keeping clean takes time and I am too lazy to devout it to it...). My mom is the same way, actually.

I think i'm messy too... I tend to clean up when i can't navigate the clutter any longer. Glad i still live at h0me,it's just my ro0m...

My husband and I are extremely messy people. Every now and then I get the urge to clean something and I will clean it till it shines. I once spent 8 hours cleaning my kitchen (a little OCD, you think?). Most of the time, though I don't clean. I am home all day on disability and I just don't do it. I have thought about hiring a cleaning service to come and do the cleaning, but I need to declutter and get rid of the mess before anyone could come in. I feel bad for the kids because they don't get to have friends over because I am too embarrassed. My T keeps quoting Dr Seuss to me: "Those who matter don't mind; those who mind don't matter." I try to take that to heart. It's still hard to not feel that sense of shame. I always get nervous when someone is due to come over, like a repair person, because I am always afraid someone is going to report me to authorities. It's an irrational fear of mine.

with another friend of mine who is also a messy one (no official diagnonse) we joked when our moms were to visit us on the dorm that we need to "turn the room in mausoleum". My mom gets pretty crazy when she is expecting guests with making the place clean. I simply don't care all that much. Nothing is crawling out of my things, it is just I don't organize things... I just don't see it as practical and have to invented a workable system yet.

I always tell my friends to PLEASE not to go on cleanomania when I am to visit them... because I acknowledge that place that is lived in can be messy.

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! )

This is not irrational, I once was asked to move "for no reason" (it is allowed in my county ) because the repair person reported the mess to the landlady. There might have been other reasons, but she came into the apartment shortly after his visit and then wrote a report in the form of a letter to us calling the place "abominable" or some other strong adjective.

Maybe that is it. When hypomanic, we overbuy, when depressed, we cannot deal with the consequences. And I have one OCD trait - I obsessively recycle, have always since the start of recycling. Everything will be a dirty mess but recycling would be in neat piles. Weird. I hope I get some good karma for it

Ground Zero, that's me. I feel guilty because I can sit here and think how it should look, but I have zero motivation to do it. It all seems overwhelming too me. I am actually comfortable the way it is. The guilt comes from how I know others think it should be. I have no visitors, so no one's disapproval. I moved from a 500 square foot mobile to a 240 square foot mobile. Before moving I threw out or sold two thirds of my belongings and clutter and I still have way too much stuff. I have never had the hang on how to do this, and don't think I will. I am looking for a cleaning person who will help some.

To the outside world I don't have clutter issues, because to the "outsider" my house is clutter free....However, my drawers and closets are disorganized messes. My spare room also will get "messy", but somehow I do manage to clean it every now and again.

I do have someone clean my house weekly- she won't de-clutter at all though (if the spare rooms a mess she won't clean it), she will just "clean", but I tell you it is well worth the money. I haven't scrubbed a bathroom floor in 6 mos....LOL

I posted the same thing a few months ago. LOL Where were you guys!! I always say I didn't even get the good parts of being bipolar!! Manic cleaning!! I'm a more on the depression side of bipolar....so even my mess depresses me, and I'm overwhelmed, and can't even bring myself to do it. Cleaning lady is a good idea for sure. I have one. I am also a perfectionist too my racing thoughts always tell me I'm a bad mom...what are ya gonna do. It's just what I have to deal with I guess. sucks big time!!

I have always had extreme motivational issues, just never connected it with depression until got dx'd. Incredibally frustrating!!!
It's a work in progress...

That is a great book. It helped me a lot. I the same issues cleaning, etc. One thing that helps me is to focus on one room at a time, and make a very specific list of things to clean in that room. It feels good to cross even a few things off the list and I try to give myself lots of props for it.

I have six bags of trash that have been sitting inside for three weeks now. Trash pickup used to be 11am which worked okay but now pickup is 6am and I have trouble taking trash out early in morning and if I take it out night before wild critters get into it. I am making no progress.

I can't clean my house. It has always been difficult to get motivated to clean it, but now it's almost impossible! However, I have no problem when I'm at work, cleaning and staying organized. What's up with that?

I am almost always cleaning,organizing and making lists of things to do even when depressed. And I work as a house keeper 2 days a week but did do it full time for many years. It's physically exhausting but helps with my stress and anxiety.