Be a Dorothy

 

I have been hyper fixated on the tv show Hoarders lately. You can really tell that some of the regular people on the show, the psychologists, and the cleaners and organizers, really care. My most favorite is the organizer Dorothy. She really cares about the people she is helping. You can tell that by the way she looks at, and interacts with those people. The most important thing is that she realizes that hoarding is a mental health issue, and she doesn’t judge. There is, almost always, some sort of trauma that triggers the hoarding. This is true for almost any type of addictive behavior. Whether it be eating, shopping, drugs, alcohol, reading, or anything else. People turn to these things to escape the feelings that come from the traumatic event that occurred. They don’t know how to handle, or process those feelings, so they tie to whatever makes them feel better. Almost everyone has had some sort of traumatic event in their life. Some people can deal with the trauma in healthy ways, others don’t know how to handle the trauma, so they turn to whatever makes them feel better. 

There is a lot of stigma around mental health. I once overheard a conversation between two people. One said that she was stressed, the other said that she had noticed a rise in mental health issues lately. The other said no not mental health issues, I’m stressed. She said that in a way that sounded like having mental health issues was wrong, and nasty. Almost like someone would act towards a nasty, moldy piece of bread. Why should someone be looked down on because they had something happen to them, that they had no control over, and don’t know how to handle? This kind of attitude is what keeps so many from reaching out for help. The fear of being judged, and looked down on. There is no shame in not knowing something. We all don’t know things, we don’t know lots of things, but we can reach out for help, and learn those things. We can learn how to feel, and deal with, the difficult emotions that come with life. Don’t be a judgmental, discourager. Be a Dorothy. Someone who cares, who encourages, who helps, and who teaches.