Ocd, hoarding or just messy

my primary diagnosis is bipolar disorder but for a many years perhaps always i have sever trouble cleaning I will admit that it is probable just laziness. but I have worked on building sites in the past I don’t have a lot of trouble cleaning other people’s houses. I have overcome social anxiety issues in the past. Iv been fairly successful in collage I have consistently recovered from drug/alcohol addition for 10 years now. But this not cleaning think has being a mainstay. I rely find it hard to clean I really don’t know why it just seems to make me so anxious, the bipolar doesn’t help. in depression I just cant do it. in mania I try to tackle it all at once and make it even worse. At this stage it seems that I just block it out of my head till I see someone else’s reaction to it. Can someone tell me of an appropriate book on the subject or even a few starting tips to help me recover from this I can’t do cbt at the moment. It’s not covered by any insurance. Also on the meds front I can’t afford to consider any more I’m on 2 mood stabilisers and 1 anti-psychotic as my main condition is bipolar disorder so at the moment I cant take sri’s would Xanax do any good im aloud to take these as I need them up to10 times a month and mostly just for sleep
Hope ye can help.

Hello my friend,

I don't think that this is necessarily OCD. I think that you just have a motivation problem to clean... Perhaps when growing up it waas never portrayed to you as being something overly important, and now therefore you neither see it as too important. Is there an actual necessity for you to clean as much as you believe you should be? I admit that I like to stay 'very' clean and shower twice everyday. However, I could easily get away with showerign just once every 2 or 3 days. Put it this way: If you were very dirty and smelling badly, would you know that it were better to have a shower?; more importantly, would you actually go to have the shower?

I would avoid seeking more medication simply to tackle this problem. The medication that you are taking should be having positive effects on you... if they are not, then relate what's happening to the doctor who prescribed them to you.

Take care
Kevin

PS - You're right about SSRIs. People with bipolar disorder should not take them.