[Belial]

My mother does this all the time, her basement is filled with clothing she claims she'll lose weight to fit into.

And normally this is fine, if this clothes weren't from the 80's.

She also isn't the keenest on taking care of herself despite many arguments that she needs to. If she gets sick, she won't go to the Doctor. She will just say "it's ok" to everything even if it's painfully obvious it isn't.

I love her to death but it's like she has to pretend everything is sunshine and that she can't admit if she's having an off day.

I suspect she is depressed but talking to her gets me denials and more "It's ok, I'm fine"

I also wonder if her hoarding is a way to compensate for something. I know she didn't have the best childhood and that my father is a difficult man. My brother also has mental issues and hasn't spoken to anyone in our family in years. So in a way she lost a son and it could be a factor.

But what can having clutter in your life accomplish? Her dining room table is half covered with two or three months worth of mail and other things. The kitchen table even has stuff on it. I always try to help out and clean up but I can't do that as much as I would like. She won't even clean up spilled ice cubes, she'll let them melt and dry on their own.

I am really worried, It's gotten worse since she was let go from her job.

Anyone have any experiences on this or some kind of insight?

[Kotomi]

I don't know if I have insight or not, but I understand the situation...
my mother is the same, though she hasn't had a job since before I was born... dad earns everything
her childhood I know for a fact affects her, she also didn't have much as a child and uses objects to help remind her of memories, things to remind her of the past...
happy times good times people places... (she has talked to me about some things before on why she got it, and those were all reasons for having something)
I don't know how to help I haven't found a way to stop the hoarding...
she also seems to do it with food so at times we end up having to toss the food
if it is vegetables though and she got to much for it to last properly I give it to our rabbits