\n<\/p>\n
Some hoarders Ms Tong worked with wanted house cleaning from the first befriending visit, but others took months to allow volunteers to enter their home, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gaining their consent to begin decluttering may require more time – sometimes stretching to a few more months.<\/p>\n
Decluttering also comes with its own challenges, as hoarders might struggle to let go of their items or continue to collect things after the cleaning session.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe this round we managed to clean this area and … we were thinking to declutter another area (next time),\u201d said Ms Tong. \u201cBut next time when we come to the home, maybe this area is cluttered again.\u201d<\/p>\n
A key challenge is that hoarders often do not perceive their behaviour as problematic, said Dr Tan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels natural and acceptable to them,\u201d he said. \u201cUnlike other conditions where patients want to recover, hoarding patients often resist change unless there are other comorbid illnesses causing distress.”<\/p>\n
Hoarders also struggle with managing the emotions of discarding and have genuine difficulties with planning, categorisation, prioritisation and working memory, said Dr Tan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey struggle to make decisions about what to keep or discard, have difficulty organising items systematically, and cannot effectively plan decluttering activities,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn’t something they can easily overcome simply because there’s external pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n