The world of Tzu Chi December 2020(Vol.129)

eature Decluttering for better health – Lee Voon Yee, clinical psychologist I vy (nickname) is a petite 15-year-old girl and a top performer since primary school. However, she had symptoms of depression and anxiety disorder, and suffered from insomnia during exam periods. Thus, she went to a psychology clinic accompanied by her mother. After talking with her, the clinical psychologist, Lee Voon Yee found that Ivy was not only a perfectionist, but also self- demanding. Her hobby was collecting papers, posters and even candy wrappers of various colours and patterns. This hobby stemmed from her memory of her grandmother’s frugality and reluctance to throw things away. However, Ivy was obstinate and extreme in her “frugality”. She collected leftover papers from her classmates, her peers from other classes, and even her teachers. It gave her great satisfaction sorting out and arranging the papers neatly. But over time, her room, closet and study table were hoarded with assorted papers. When under immense pressure preparing for her primary school achievement test (UPSR), Ivy temporarily stopped organizing papers. However, she continued collecting them in bags. Her habit caused her room to be cluttered, poorly ventilated and dusty. She developed allergies and suffered frequent colds and coughs. However, she refused to let her mother move her stuffs, and would throw tantrums and start arguments when her parents reproached her for hoarding. Voon Yee explained, “Ivy’s misperception of frugality, coupled with pressures from her studies, had contributed to her hoarding behaviour.” Through collecting papers, Ivy felt a sense of control. This is one way of shifting one’s attention. Hoarding disorder is not age-related Many people associate hoarding disorder with the elderly, but actually, it has nothing to do with age. Voon Yee applied Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help Ivy understand her anxiety and perfectionism, and how they had led to her fear of making mistakes. When Ivy realized and understood her situation, she learned to see things in a different perspective. She gave up her hoarding behaviour and started to let her mother help her. She got rid of 70% to 80% of her stuffs, and only kept those she really wanted. She also Translated by Ng Yu Xin 2020 • 12 16