Saturday, May 23, 2009

Clutterers Anonymous - For me!

Well, what do you know…I am not alone. I misdiagnosed myself earlier. I am a “Clutterer” and a program actually exists for me! No kidding, I got this from Wikipedia…There is hope for me to get Organized and move to Paris.

Clutterers Anonymous

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clutterers Anonymous (CLA) is a twelve-step program for people who share a common problem with accumulation of clutter. CLA does not exist to provide housekeeping hints, tips on sorting and filing, or lectures on time management. Rather, CLA focuses on the underlying issues made manifest by unnecessary physical and emotional clutter.

As of 2005 CLA was active in over fifty cities in America across seventeen states.[1] The only requirement for membership is a desire to eliminate clutter and bring order into one's life.[2] Clutterers Anonymous replaces "powerless over alcohol" in the First Step of the Twelve Suggested Steps originally developed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with "powerless over our clutter."[3] CLA was founded in May of 1989 in Simi Valley, California.[2]

Some believe that cluttering behavior can be symptomatic of deeper issues. Problem clutterers are more likely to have depression, mania, OCD or ADHD. Any of these disorders can be co-morbid with compulsive hoarding.[4]

Others attribute cluttering to the human desire to hunt and gather, while still others describe it as a consequence of over-consumption.[5][6] Some members of CLA describe the inability to let go of objects as a consequence of spiritual emptiness.[2]

Unlike alcoholism, addiction, or depression, cluttering is rarely lethal (although serious injury or death can occur from clutter-related accidental trips, falls or fires), but it can have other devastating consequences. In extreme cases, clutterers have been evicted from dwellings, lost custody of children, or have even been jailed for violations of building, health or fire codes.[7]

The CLA approved literature includes the two fundamental texts of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Alcoholics Anonymous[8] (the so-called "Big Book") and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions[9] as well as eight CLA specific pamphlets. At meetings, CLA members read directly from both books replacing the word "alcoholic" with "clutterer."[10]
Clutterers Anonymous is not associated with Messies Anonymous, a support group founded by Sandra Felton, utilizing her copyrighted publications and not based upon the Twelve Steps of AA.[11]

No comments:

Post a Comment