Actually, I feel very sorry for Marigold. She is not lazy, as Hannelore puts it - she is simply a hoarder, and needs more help than these three can provide.
— Hoarding is a mental health issue and is not due to laziness, personality flaws, or stubbornness.
— Hoarding and saving symptoms are part of a discrete clinical syndrome that also includes indecisiveness, perfectionism, procrastination, difficulty in organizing tasks, and avoidance.
— Compulsive hoarding has been linked with OCD, ADHD, depression, and social phobia, however, evidence suggests it is a separate disorder.
— Compulsive hoarding is treatable. Cleaning up the hoarder’s house (without their permission or involvement) is not treatment, as the hoarding behavior will continue.
It's just interesting that these comics come up now, because I've been looking into exactly this to try to help myself. I'm not as bad as she is (I take out my trash on a regular basis and never have any pests), but I understand exactly how it goes. She says she's absent-minded - that definitely comes with the territory, I'm the most absent-minded person I know. I've had friends try to help, but it's difficult to just have someone go through all your things and indiscriminately decide what is valuable and what is not. And for the stuff you want to keep, you don't want them to just put it somewhere - you want to be the one to decide where the perfect place for it is. And even if someone does help you clean the place, the hoarding behavior hasn't been addressed, so before you can say Jiminy Cricket, it's a big mess all over again. I wouldn't be surprised if it were a mess when Hannelore comes back. In fact, it would make sense.
Also, Marigold's comment of "it was vintage!" - very much a hoarder's mentality. Excessive sentimental value is attached to almost everything you own, which is one of the reasons that nothing is gotten rid of.
I feel for her because there the shame she feels in today's comic is real, and it's difficult to deal with. You don't invite people over to your apartment because you're embarrassed. It gets in the way of your everyday life, it's hard to establish a daily routine, and sleep patterns are out of whack. You don't want to talk about it, and being berated over it just makes the self-loathing worse. No matter how you try, you can't seem to make a dent, and that just makes you feel worse about yourself, and the cycle continues. Sometimes you just stop trying altogether, and if depression sets in, then you just don't feel like even putting in the effort.
Over time, you just get used to it, and even though it makes you feel bad about yourself, makes you think you're lazy (even though you're not), it's just easier to ignore it and tell yourself, "That's just the way I am. I shouldn't have to apologize for who I am!" In reality though, deep down you know you'll feel much better about yourself when you get things under control. But the answers are neither easy nor swift, and take commitment - a level of commitment I hope to find one day.
*whew*
Anyways, I guess now you guys know more about me than you cared to. But you know a little more about Marigold, too, so maybe that's a plus. If you have any more questions about the issue (with regards to Marigold, of course, not me), feel free to ask.
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