No matter how strange it may sound, psychologists confirm one curious point: the habit of collecting old things, even outwardly resembling garbage, is not a strange tendency of an individual, but a completely serious psychological deviation, known as the Messi syndrome.
Causes of psychological pathology
Thus, the trauma of the human psyche is manifested, which was earned under the influence of certain reasons:
- Wound in the head area, or surgery in the same place. In some cases, they can disrupt brain activity and lead to the development of psychological abnormalities.
- A side effect of a serious illness. Sometimes doctors are surprised to see similar tendencies in cancer patients or those who have recovered from it.
- Death or death of someone close to you (son, daughter, spouse, father, mother).
- Lack of attention.
- Depressivecondition.
- Divorce from a partner, and the breakup of the family.
- Genetic predisposition. For example, we can think of grandparents who survived the war, and therefore tried to prepare their children for a possible lack of resources.
- Separation of children from parents. Over time, each child grows up and goes to build his life. Parents who don't know what to do with too much free time start packing things "for the future".
- Old age. Elderly people, who have experienced all possible hardships in their lifetime, are trying to play it safe in case the situation repeats.
No less common are cases when people expected a lot from life, but did not get what they wanted:
- Young people, whose psychology could not accept perestroika, and therefore mentally remained in the time that was before the events. As a rule, such people remain unclaimed, and, in order to compensate for the lack of unfulfillment, they begin to collect the things they need, in their opinion.
- A person who has experienced a serious financial ruin (broke, bankrupt, cheated with money) is afraid of losing everything else, so he fills all available space with the things he could get.
- People of the old generation who have been collecting books, manuscripts, magazines and so on for years, which at the time of the development of digital technologies have abruptly become ordinary waste paper.
Who are hoarders
In scientific circles, such people are called hoarders. They are constantly under the influence of inner emptiness, longing,despair and so on. Many patients with the disease of hoarding things do not know what they need from life, and, accordingly, what to achieve. Without treatment, some of them attempt suicide, while others enter a permanent apathetic state, tormenting them with melancholy and bouts of depression. As a rule, patients understand that their tendency is not quite normal, and therefore avoid strangers, trying to leave the house less.
Some channels are broadcast only in America. One of them regularly shows a program about such patients. People affected by the Messi syndrome talk about their lives. Their words are filled with hidden feelings, all sorts of problems, and shame in front of strangers who see what they have turned their home into. But even embarrassment and shame do not help them stop cluttering their home.
Stages of pathological hoarding
- At the first stage of the development of pathology, the patient has many interests. If desired, he is able to carry out a general cleaning at home, but he can no longer simply put individual places in order. Therefore, often with general cleanliness, he has small clutter with dishes, papers, things, and so on. Personal hygiene is still in the first place, and the arrival of guests is welcomed by the owner of the house. Work remains a strict necessity, which the patient constantly observes.
- The second stage is characterized by the fact that the patient can no longer thoroughly clean his own house. He has many other interestsoutside the native walls, but, finding himself in them, he is not able to throw anything out, or maintain order, put in place by the wrong hands. It becomes quite common for him to mix papers with dirty dishes, or to sleep on a bed littered with everyday clothes. The patient begins to avoid guests, under various pretexts, rejecting their visit. But he still monitors personal hygiene, though already carelessly. Work gradually loses its necessity, and hidden neuroses and fears come to the fore.
- The third stage represents a turning point. Without treatment for Messi syndrome, the patient's condition worsens. All interests outside the home disappear. Having started a business, he is not able to bring it to the end. Therefore, half-eaten food, unwashed dishes and so on are everywhere in his house. The patient in every possible way prevents the visit of strangers. He forgot about personal hygiene. Swimming, washing or changing clothes is an impossible task for him. He is no longer able to work, and social interaction is gradually fading away.
Ways to help the sick
Practically all hoarders do not admit that they are sick. When you try to hint to them about a possible psychological deviation, you can cause their anger and indignation. They brush off all hints and assumptions, proving that they are fond of ordinary collecting. It is rare that one of them asks for help. Most patients are found within four walls barely alive.
But even if a person is aware of the problem, he does nothandle it on its own without outside interference. Moreover, this impact must be extremely careful and qualified. The interlocutor is forbidden to raise his voice to the patient, show his nerves or openly condemn his behavior.
It is desirable to find out the reason for such pathological collecting. In the event that the patient himself does not understand the reasons for his actions, it is necessary to restore the latest events that could push him to the appearance of Plushkin's syndrome. Mental illness prevents a person from deciding what he needs and what he can do without. If his interlocutor could not understand what could provoke such a pathology, then you should seek the help of a specialist. He will return the right of choice to the patient, teach him how to deal with him, professionally bypassing all corners in psychological therapy.
Why is it important to regularly clean your house of old things?
Such actions help to clear the mental space. In the process of cleaning, a person is distracted from existing problems, charged with positive and new forces for future achievements.
Feng shui experts advise you to apply a few mental tricks in real life. For example, when throwing away an old thing, one must imagine that a part of something bad that darkened the past life is leaving with it. If a thing has a lot of bad memories associated with it, then the best option is to burn it. In order not to repeat the same thing many times, they recommend going around the whole house, collecting everything that at least fleetingly saddens or annoys, take it away from residential buildings, andset it on fire.
After completing all the steps, you need to imagine how easy it will be to return to that house, which is cleared of everything bad. That is why it is called a house, so that a person has a desire to constantly come there. The environment should bear the imprint of the owner's character, his interests and desires. When inviting strangers, a person must understand that they bring part of their energy into his space. Therefore, he should be attentive to him, love him, and the house will respond with warm gratitude, becoming a real place of rest for a person, which charges with additional energy and positive.
How to get started cleaning your home?
All tips contain the same information: cleaning starts exactly from the place where the owner of the house spends most of his time. And then from it you can go to any room of housing until the end of the whole process.
Any house reflects the external and internal state of its owner. A clean and well-kept home symbolizes order in a person’s head. By regularly cleaning his house, he will change his life without noticing it. The environment will gradually change, warm relations with the closest people will return to reality, new acquaintances will occur. A new love will meet.
Why is this happening? It all depends on the lifestyle that a person leads. If he changes at least his surroundings, he will begin to change outwardly. A beautiful gait will appear, a confident presentation of oneself, "devils" will play in the eyes. The changes that have taken place will not go unnoticed by the people around him.
We must forget about the past
The past must remain behind a person. If he doubts, then any psychologist will advise him to imagine himself 50 years old. Will he regret at this moment about the time spent on senseless moral torment? If so, it's never too late to change your life:
- There is no permanent fashion. Therefore, grown children will not wear their mother's prom dress, which is several decades old at best. If a woman does not want a thing to go to waste, she can place ads on the Internet, and the clothes she loves so much will benefit another person.
- There is an unspoken rule: if the thing is not useful for one year, then it's time to throw it away.
- Today is the peak of digital technology, so there is no particular need to keep old records that can be easily found on the Internet. Moreover, scientific progress does not stand still and new studies are constantly being conducted that change the relevance of current information.
- Carriers of the Messi syndrome like to amuse themselves that they keep unnecessary appliances for spare parts in order to spend less in the future. But to be honest with ourselves, how often do people renovate something with old stuff?
Oriental Rules
Any broken things, damaged dishes or clothes with holes in it harms its owner, making a hole in his aura, and thereby skipping bad he alth, troubles, oppressive thoughtsetc. And it's hard to disagree with that. It is unpleasant to eat from bad dishes, or wear worn clothes with visible traces of repair. Today is the 21st century. You do not need to have a fabulous fortune to provide yourself with a new wardrobe or even inexpensive, but new dishes. Moreover, deposits of old rags collect dust, bacteria, cockroaches and so on. Therefore, inappropriate collecting can be harmful to he alth.
German doctors are looking for not lazy people in neglected apartments, but seriously ill patients
Any person at the sight of such a neighbor will involuntarily remember Plyushkin from "Dead Souls". And he will be far from the truth. Psychologists classify such people as carriers of the Messi syndrome (painful hoarding), which requires specialized intervention.
2 million such patients are officially registered in Germany. Experts believe that the real figures are much higher, and therefore society does not pay attention to such phenomena in vain. A sick person lives for years in a cluttered home, and does nothing to change the situation. Excess garbage can be harmful to he alth, interfere with the daily life of the people around it, but patients will assume that it has nothing to do with it.
Wedigo von Wedel, MD, runs the H-TEAM organization, which provides support to people in difficult situations. For the past 10 years, she has been studying painful hoarding. According to the observations of researchers, everyone can become a victim of such a phenomenon. Thisthe case refers to those isolated moments when the age, financial situation, social status and personality of the patient himself play absolutely no role.
