Terry, that’s absolutely true!

My hoarding came about because I was abused most of my youth by our housekeeper, my “mother”.

She he told me, regularly, my dad would get rid of me, if it wasn’t for her. Her daughter wanted to be me, and so stole my stuff. She gave away things, the more I liked it the more likely it was to be broken, stolen, donated, or belittled.

i was trained, for years, not to take care of my stuff, not to act like I liked it, not to arrange my room the way I wanted it, etc. and for decades afterwards, I had panic attacks when I tried to clean up my act. Because a clean space meant whatever I liked would be broken, stolen, made fun of, etc.

I had to get my PTSD diagnosed, do trauma work, write a memoir, then design a low stress cleaning plan, which is where I am now.

Cross your fingers, let’s hope it works this time!