Help with messie syndrome
Exchange with others affected in forums
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Call the H team's messie help phone
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Is there a support group nearby?
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If necessary, inform the family doctor (bring a person you trust to strengthen yourself and photos of the apartment)
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Contact local social psychiatric service
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If you are about to lose your home: contact "Wohnungssicherung"
Help with messie syndrome
inform yourself
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Offer help. Accept wishes. Help only to the extent that the person concerned wants.
Don't push, don't threaten, don't judge.
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Call the H team's messie help phone
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Self-help group for relatives with mental illnesses
Help with messie syndrome
inform about Messie Syndrome
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If there is no danger to life and limb or the building structure: The tenant may live as he / she wants, otherwise: together, set realistic deadlines
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seek a personal conversation
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offer help
Worth and dignity
How could I not cover the topic of "messies" on this website?
On the one hand, it is one of the biggest misunderstandings I come across when I tell that I am an declutter coach. Many - these are the people who are "naturally" very neat - cannot imagine that there are "non-messies" who want my help. The spectrum of (dis)order and the relationship to our things - the disorder of valuation is scientifically called the messie syndrome - is very large, but above all very private and individual.
On the other hand, those affected, as well as relatives and many "indirectly affected" (eg landlords or neighbors) keep contacting me. At the moment, the offers of help are still rather meager: Self-help groups are mostly only available in large cities, family doctors are not sufficiently trained and offers of help are difficult to find. The local social psychiatric services are currently the best place to go for help with ones household.
misunderstood & unseen
When those affected turn to someone for help, they are often bombarded with blatant prejudice. They are accused of being too lazy. And you just have to clean everything up properly and throw away a lot, then the problem will be solved. Such statements do not help. On the contrary: they harm. If it doesn't just stick to the utterance, but also heave-ho-throw-away actions can cause severe trauma. There is a lack of education and public awareness of the disease.
About 4% of the German population suffers from pathological hoarding.
The mental illness of pathological hoarding is officially recognized as a disorder in its own and is included in ICD-11 , which comes into effect on January 1, 2022. Doctors and therapists can then prescribe help and settle it with the health insurance companies. And hopefully this development will also ensure better and more appreciative recognition by the public.
Buchtipps Messie-Syndrom
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declutter help for messies
The help I offer is limited to tidying up the living space. I do not offer therapeutic help because I am not trained for it. Ideally, you already have a specialist with whom you can talk about the psychological aspects of your situation.
So you've come to the right place if you want help with tidying up and structuring your apartment. First of all we try to give things a permanent place. According to the two principles "Every thing has its place" and "Like to like". It all happens at your own pace. I will help you to stay focused, make suggestions for storage options and storage space miracles and if you want I will also lend a hand.
If you then want to part with things - you alone decide that - I can help you to find a suitable new home for the things. Whether flea market, online sales, second-hand shop or social department store - I'll be happy to help you find it.
Self-help groups
Those affected come together in self-help groups to exchange ideas and support one another.
Under the search term "Messie" or "Wertbeimessungsstörung" + your place of residence or the next larger city you will find the contact details of a self-help group online, if there is one. The District Office's "Kontaktstelle Selbshilfe" should have an overview of all active self-help groups at hand. In some places there are also church sponsors who run so-called "Selbsthilfe Büros" and can pass them on from there.
What to do if there is no support group near you?
Self-help groups are led by people who are or have been affected themselves. Perhaps you know someone, for example from an exchange in a forum, who would be ready for it? In most cases, the above-mentioned contact points are happy to assist you with the administrative side of setting up a self-help group (finding a suitable space, publishing the offer, etc.).
The only self-help group for Lörrach and the surrounding districts of Waldshut, Freiburg, Emmendingen and the entire Black Forest takes place in Offenburg . I am happy to support interested founders of a self-help group in the above-mentioned regions administratively and organizationally. Please send me a message using the contact form or by email.