Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight (14 page)
Read Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight Online
Authors: Peter Walsh
Their total score, on average, was 41.5âjust into the range you might see in someone with a hoarding problem. Some had a total score well under 40, and some had a score that was substantially higher.
Keep in mind that a high score on this quiz
doesn't
in itself mean that you have hoarding disorder. You'd need to go to a qualified mental health professional for a diagnosis of that.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) underwent a big revision before its current version, the DSM-5, was released in 2013. This is the manual that guides mental health experts on recognizing and diagnosing hundreds of mental health problems. To be diagnosed with hoarding disorder, the DSM-5 says you need to:
Have persistent trouble getting rid of or giving away possessions, whether or not these are things other people find valuable
Have this trouble because you feel a strong urge to save items and/or you feel distress when parting with them
Have so much stuff in your home or workplace, as a result of these issues, that you can't use at least some of the spaces for their intended purpose
Experience significant distress or problems functioning as a result of these symptoms
I included this survey as a tool to help pinpoint where you have particular problems related to your stuff. Clutter comes from bringing too much stuff
into
your home (your acquisition score), not getting rid of enough of it (your
difficulty discarding/saving score), and allowing it to spread throughout your home where it doesn't belong (your clutter score).
An especially high score in one or more of these areas suggests you should pay particular attention to what's causing you to acquire stuff, hold on to stuff, or be messy. If they're all equally high, then you'll know to seek answers across the board.
Remember that your score may well go down after you go through the program. The participants who finished the program saw their scores fall steeply! I'll talk more about how much they improved a little later in the book.
MEASURING YOUR ANXIETY
Next, it's time to test your anxiety levels with a commonly used tool called the GAD-7. This is a fairly recently developed survey, and research has found it to be a “valid and efficient” way for doctors and mental health professionals to check for generalized anxiety disorder.
I'm including it here as a way for you to quickly and easily get a general sense of how much anxiety you're carrying around. I also asked the test panel to answer these questions.
GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER 7-ITEM (GAD-7) SCALE
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems? Circle a number for each answer.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Not at all | Several days | More than half the days | Nearly every day |
| 1. Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge |
| 2. Not being able to stop or control worrying |
| 3. Worrying too much about different things |
| 4. Trouble relaxing |
| 5. Being so restless that it's hard to sit still |
| 6. Becoming easily annoyed or irritable |
| 7. Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen |
Scoring:
Add up all your zeroes, ones, twos, and threes at the bottom of each column. Now add all your columns together. This gives you your total score.
Your score can range from zero to 21. Here's what your score means:
0 to 4âyou appear to have minimal anxiety
5 to 9âyou appear to have mild anxiety
10 to 14âyou appear to have moderate anxiety
15 to 21âyou appear to have severe anxiety
Remember, this quiz doesn't
diagnose
you with an anxiety problem. It merely draws your attention to a possibility. In my experience, people who are struggling with clutter tend to show higher degrees of stress and anxiety. A frequent part of my work with clients is to help them deal with a sense of anxiousness or foreboding. Addressing clutter inevitably raises surprising issues and emotions. Expect that to be a normal part of this process. Accept and work through your feelings. If anxiety is interfering with your life, seeking professional help may be your best course of action. Anxiety, left untreated, can be seriously debilitating.
Our test panel also saw improvement on their anxiety scores, as you'll see in the graph below.
If you scored high on the GAD-7, keep in mind that addressing your anxiety will likely help you better manage your home and your weight.
TEST PANELIST GAD-7 SCORES
BEFORE AND AFTER PROGRAM
MEASURING YOUR MOOD
Now let's take a look at whether you're dealing with depression, using a similarly structured scale called the PHQ-9. Depression means more than just sitting around feeling sad: It can also lead to physical symptoms and changes in your behavior that you might not realize are due to depression.
Researchers conducting depression-related studies often give participants the PHQ-9 to track their outlook. Since symptoms of depression can play such a big role in your relationship with your home and weight, I'd like you to explore whether any of the elements of this questionnaire relate to you. Having this knowledge can give you more power over your clutter and waistline while you're doing the 6-week program.
PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE-9 (PHQ-9)
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems? Circle a number for each answer.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Not at all | Several days | More than half the days | Nearly every day |
| 1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things |
| 2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless |
| 3. Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much |
| 4. Feeling tired or having little energy |
| 5. Poor appetite or overeating |
| 6. Feeling bad about yourselfâor that you are a failure or you have let yourself or your family down |
| 7. Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television |
| 8. Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed? Or the oppositeâbeing so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual |
| 9. Thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way |
Scoring:
Add up all your zeroes, ones, twos, and threes at the bottom of each column. Now add all your columns together. This gives you your total score.
Here's what your score means:
0 to 4âyou appear to have minimal depression
5 to 9âyou appear to have mild depression
10 to 14âyou appear to have moderate depression
15 to 19âyou appear to have moderately severe depression
20 to 27âyou appear to have severe depression
If you got a high score on this quiz or you've been struggling with symptoms of depression, consider talking to your doctor or a mental health professional.
Also, as you go through the program, remember that feelings of depression can influence how you collect new possessions, hang on to old ones, and maintain your home. Improving your home environment will likely require you to address these feelings.
MEASURING YOUR FOCUS
Moving on, let's focus on your
focu
s. If you have ADHD-like symptoms, such as trouble paying attention or controlling your impulses, these can play a role in your weight and the orderliness of your home. That's because if you're living your life on autopilot rather than controlling your choices, you're going to drift toward eating and shopping habits that feel good but aren't necessarily good for your health or your home.