Having cleaners to sort out a disgusting house

[AnxiousMunchkin]

I’m posting this in mental health because I’m specifically interested in people’s experiences of dealing with messy/dirty homes due to their MH issues.

I’m coming out of a major depressive episode and my flat is disgusting, like Aggie & Kim disgusting. Fridge is festering (been living off ready meals, toast and takeaways), every surface and lots of floor covered in clutter and actual rubbish, clothes all over the place - I just about manage to get my work clothes through the laundry, nothing ever gets put away though. Bathroom looks worse than when I was a student in a 10-person house share modelled on The Young Ones. There are dog and cat poo/wee stains in places. Everything is just underpinned by grime.

My living environment is a result of my mental health (ironically, I do have obsessive compulsive disorder, not about cleaning though obviously!) but also directly impacts negatively on it and I know I need to sort it. I have been thinking about paying for a cleaning company to come and do a deep spring clean. There’s things I’d have to do first - tidy, basically - to get it to a state where I could tolerate strangers coming in at all (and so they could actually clean) but even then, I think it will feel so embarrassing for them to see how disgusting it is.

Has anyone else with MH issues done this and how did you cope with it, did it help or was it too difficult? How did you manage the cleaners on the day, were you there or did you leave them to it? What did you do beforehand to prepare for the cleaners to be able to clean?

Thanks :)

Could you get a post rental clean and just tell them you had some bad tenants? If you give them a heads up on the phone you’ll probably have to pay extra but it saves Amy embarrassment.

any

Although you might have to remove personal stuff for the clean. Sorry I’m working on 3 hours sleep.

I find when trying to clear a lot of mess that's it's easier if I first get 4 big bags then sort out belongings into:
-Keep
-Charity
-Recycle
-Bin

When sorting through our 'clutter' I do think 'does this make me happy or have a use', if it's a 'no' then I tend to get rid. I used to be sentimental, but realised that being sentimental about possessions sometimes made me less happy.

Then once I have cleared some space I find it easier to get down to the actual cleaning. Hope this helps and you can manage to make a start. I always find it easier on a sunny day too!

There's a series of YouTube videos by someone called ‘My New Me' they are really good and her home was properly messy to begin with (not like some cleaning videos where they already have basically spotless houses with just the odd random object scattered about) always find it easier to clean when I watch cleaning videos as they give me a bit of motivation seeing the before and afters and how they got there. Good luck

No real advice to give but just want to say "good luck and glad your feeling better now "

Sunshine thankyou for that YouTube recommendation it is an inspiring channel that it can be done. I like how she was splitting things into the initial de-yukking, then the ‘need’ deep cleaning, then the not 100% necessary but would like to do, and prioritising. My problem is that I’ll tend to obsess over something in the third category, making a new colour-coded and labelled organisation system for craft supplies for example, whilst not facing the proper filth and mess everywhere.

I can de-yuk, and I’m hoping that going through the de-yuk process and noting the proper cleaning things that need doing will prepare me mentally to have professionals come in and do them.