Plyushkin's syndrome and its main manifestations. This publication will discuss the phenomenon of abnormal hoarding and how to eliminate it. Plyushkin's syndrome is a person's inability to control their acquisitions. The number of absolutely unnecessary items in people with such a model of behavior is sometimes simply amazing. You can find literally everything in their house, but often their dwellings resemble a dump. In order not to make a trash can out of your life, you need to understand the reasons for the emergence of irrational hoarding.
What is Plyushkin's syndrome
This mental illness has many names, among which the most common diagnoses are syllogomania, chording, Diogenes and Messi syndrome, and senile squalor.
Do not confuse such a pathology with shopaholism, because with it, a person acquires things in large quantities for a certain fee. The modern Plyushkin receives most of his items for free or for a very symbolic value. A shopaholic can willingly share his new thing, which a syllogoman cannot do.
Foreign psychologists usually use exclusively the term Messi syndrome when describing a disease in the form of abnormal hoarding. Domestic experts prefer to voice pathology by analogy with one of the heroes of N. V. Gogol "Dead Souls".
Plyushkin very willingly acquired all kinds of rubbish, and in his house one could even observe the moldy gingerbread necessary for all occasions. Disposophobia is considered a synonym for the sounded phenomenon, in which a person cannot throw away even a thing that is unnecessary to him.
Reasons for the occurrence of abnormal hoarding
Syllogomanes bring a lot of inconvenience to their loved ones. In most cases, experts see the causes of Plyushkin's syndrome in the following provoking factors:
- Social maladjustment … Some people cannot be considered full-fledged representatives of society due to their closed nature. From the dwellings they have, they create barricades in the form of unnecessary trash, visually defending themselves in such an unusual way from the outside world.
- Childhood problems … In this case, the child might feel a lack of attention on the part of the parents regarding gifts and pleasant surprises. For him, in the process of maturation, each thing began to have a special meaning, so the matured person automatically started the accumulation mechanism.
- Traumatic brain injury … After certain head injuries, a person's worldview can change significantly. Officially, he will remain an adequate person, but outside the walls of his house he will be ready to accumulate mountains of unnecessary garbage in the form of napkins and other used material.
- Generation of times of scarcity … Such people can be equated with the children of war who have experienced hunger and devastation. If at one time a person was acutely short of the things most necessary for the existence of things, then he then begins to collect everything that comes to hand for a "rainy day".
- Depression … Some women have a habit of “eating” stress with chocolate or organizing another raid on the shops. People with Plyushkin's syndrome, in any crisis situation, begin to fill up their homes with all unnecessary trash, calming themselves in such a strange way.
- Mental illness … In this case, we will focus on schizophrenia, which is often accompanied by syllogomania. People with a similar mental disorder are prone not only to inappropriate actions, but also to collecting unnecessary items for everyday life.
- Loneliness … Some individuals feel a little more confident when things surround them in the absence of friends. The amount of excess trash in the described persons becomes simply threatening, because sometimes a person has no place to sleep because of the filling of the living space with garbage.
The listed reasons for the occurrence of Plyushkin's syndrome indicate that a person has had a rather significant mental breakdown. If people like to acquire new things, then this is not considered a deviation from the norm. Much more dangerous is the situation when the syllogoman carefully stores even broken pens and used syringes in the hope that they will be useful in the future.
Stages of development of Plyushkin's syndrome
Any pathology always has a peak in its formation, when it is definitely worth sounding the alarm. Syllogomania usually develops in a stable pattern, which looks like this:
- Initial phase … During its course, a person's tendency is observed to acquire things that do not belong to the essentials. People who are predisposed to syllogomania do not miss a single point of sale for cheap goods of the most varied types. At the same time, they are guided not by calculations of their budget savings, but by reasoning that any trifle will definitely come in handy in the future.
- Middle phase … In this period of the formation of a voiced phobia, ordinary hoarding turns into a certain kind of mania. With this acute phase of the pathology, the treatment of Plyushkin's syndrome should be performed without fail. It is at the peak of the formation of syllogomania that the transformation of one's own home into a dump of unnecessary things begins.
- Point of no return … The third phase of the development of Diogenes syndrome is the most sad sight for any outside observer. The dwelling of the accumulator of all trash at this stage of the formation of the described pathology resembles a garbage dump where terrifying unsanitary conditions reign.
Varieties of syllogomania
Plyushkin's syndrome usually develops in one amplitude, therefore it is a fairly predictable phenomenon. However, psychologists insist on the fact that it is necessary to distinguish between manifestations of syllogomania:
- Pseudo-collecting … A true collector of any value is looking for only those items that he liked. Someone dreams of becoming the owner of rare pieces of edged weapons, and some people see their hobby in collecting butterflies. However, a person with Plyushkin syndrome does not stop at the desire to purchase one or two items. He begins frantically to collect all sorts of little things that in reality will never be useful to him.
- Vintageism … You should not confuse the voiced concept with a person's desire to get an antique. It's one thing to try to decorate your home with things rare in historical value, but sometimes such zeal is transformed into Plyushkin's syndrome. The dwelling of such eccentrics is often reminiscent of a museum, which is littered with attributes of different eras.
- Acquisition of many animals … Psychologists say that when asked how to treat Plyushkin's syndrome, emphasis should be placed on the cause of the pathology. Some people do not purchase any household items because they are passionate about collecting animals. Many compassionate lonely old women have a shelter for an army of homeless tailed friends. Neighbors of such women in age are violently indignant about this fact, but "God's dandelions" in response to criticism, take another pet into the house.
- "Prigodism" … People with this behavior will never put anything in a landfill. It is easier for them to make an unsanitary zone out of their place of residence than to part with the accumulated rubbish. In their house, you can easily find out-of-order equipment that cannot be repaired.
- "Conservatism" … Some ladies are so keen on homework for the winter that sometimes they lose their sense of reality. The entire kitchen and closets of the voiced cooks are littered with jars of various sizes. Many preservation containers are often not used by these women, but it is important for them to feel ready for the process of preparing pickles, salads and marinades.
- Sentimental Plyushkin … In some cases, the hand simply does not rise when you want to get rid of an object. It can be a memorable thing or just a gift from a friend that was presented from the bottom of your heart. However, in people with Plyushkin's syndrome, all objects around them acquire symbolic significance.
Important! By moving their home to an unsanitary zone, syllogomanes make life unbearable not for themselves, but exclusively for their immediate environment. In order not to become a loner, you should consider all the prospects of existence with a voiced phobia.
Risk group for the development of Plyushkin's syndrome
Not all people are susceptible to this pathology, therefore most individuals are more wasteful individuals than curmudgeons. However, some individuals are prone to anomalous hoarding if they belong to this contingent of the population of our planet:
- Alcoholics … Psychologists conducted a number of studies and came to the unexpected conclusion that it is drunkards who often drag everything in their field of view into their house. During periods of partial enlightenment of the mind, they sometimes cannot remember how this or that thing appeared in their home.
- Teenagers … The trend of fashion often dictates the most absurd options for organizing their leisure time for the younger generation. Some guys or girls' room resembles a junkyard because it is cluttered with unnecessary but highly popular items.
- Phlegmatic … People with a similar temperament like to be engaged in hoarding rather than squandering existing material wealth. Consequently, a person with a fairly calm perception of the surrounding reality can be carried away by creation, which can then turn into a Plyushkin complex.
- Outcasts of society … A person who, by his own or someone else's will, becomes a stranger to society, begins to behave in a rather strange way. At best, such a person finds a hobby to his liking, which fully compensates for his inferiority in terms of human communication. However, very often cases are recorded when hermits become pronounced syllogists.
- Book lovers … Having your own library is a commendable acquisition for every person who is engaged in self-development. At the same time, everything is fine in moderation, because turning your house into a waste paper reception center in the form of unnecessary journalism is not an adequate act.
- Curmudgeons … Such people should be envied in the sense that they are ready to convert any penny into a ruble. However, their zeal can sometimes play a cruel joke with them, because avarice is very often formatted into Plyushkin's syndrome.
- Sentimental persons … You can calculate such people by the phrases “this sweater eaten away by moths was inherited from my parents” or “my hand will not rise to throw out the bent-legged stool, which my grandmother loved so much”. There are a great many reasons for refusing to get rid of unnecessary junk among syllogomaniacs, because their fears are based solely on the excessive sensitivity of the romantic soul.
Manifestations of Plyushkin's syndrome in humans
It is best to know your phobias in person in order to successfully cope with them later. To begin to deal with Plyushkin's syndrome should be, first of all, with an analysis of internal fears or analysis of the model of behavior of a person-syllogoman from the immediate environment:
- Inability to part with a thing … In our everyday life, there are very often objects that we are sorry to get rid of even after they are broken. However, a sane person will never make a thing for an outright fetish out of mementos. If there is a desire to accumulate trinkets in large quantities, then you should think about the progression of yourself or a familiar Plyushkin complex.
- Disorder at home … A true collector of all kinds of junk will never lose face when visitors come to him. His house will resemble a second-hand warehouse if the disease has already passed into the third stage of its development.
- Unsanitary conditions … In a rare case, in a room where there are a large number of unnecessary items, hygiene standards will be observed. A person first of all follows those things that he needs in everyday life. If any object is absolutely unsuitable for him, then it is simply covered with a layer of dust.
- Strange objects in the dwelling … The most incredible things can be found in his lair exclusively at modern Plyushkin. The exploration of some of these syllogomanic retreats is quite impressive, because their inventory is capable of supporting several search expeditions anywhere in the world.
- Flea market and trash heap raids … Sometimes even very wealthy people cannot overcome Plyushkin's syndrome. In this case, they either buy up all the trash at the voiced points of sale, or visit local landfills in search of "useful" things.
Ways to deal with Plyushkin's syndrome
The complexes are ideal exclusively for masochists, who are quite comfortable being in the role of a victim. Adequate people who do not want to put an end to their future should think about the presence in their life of such a phenomenon as anomalous hoarding.
Self-directed actions to combat syllogomania
To overcome your fears, you need to develop for yourself the following model of behavior in the announced crisis period:
- Awareness of the existing problem … If the dwelling in which a person lives begins to resemble a dump, then you should think hard about the events in life. At the same time, no one calls to bring the house into a state of absolute sterility. The symptoms of Plyushkin's syndrome are often accompanied by the presence of extreme uncleanliness in a person, therefore, the fact of his existing problem should be recognized in order to further resolve it.
- Study of the crime chronicle … If you carefully read such sources of information, you can be extremely unpleasantly surprised by the information provided for the general user. Most fires take place in cluttered apartments, where a person's foot should not initially step.
- Introspection … Only she herself can come to an agreement with a stubborn person in a constructive dialogue with her own “I”. Introspection in most cases is the main weapon in a person's fight against his phobias. In this case, it is best to write down your own fears on paper in a calm atmosphere, and then burn the created list of negative emotions.
- Gradual cleaning of debris … If another accumulation of unnecessary items begins in the house, then it is urgent to get rid of them. Some syllogists even feel a sense of relief when they take out the trash from the house under the strict guidance of their relatives.
Help of psychotherapists with syllogomania
Quite often, people consider the work of healers of human souls to be an empty phrase or quackery. However, in critical situations, they still turn to psychotherapists for help, who, with the existing Plyushkin syndrome, usually offer the following therapy:
- Anti-example method … In this case, the patient is offered to watch some documentaries, which clearly describe the entire perniciousness of Plyushkin's syndrome. At the same time, you can familiarize yourself with the same "SpongeBob SquarePants", where in one of the episodes the main character transforms his house from sentimental impulses into a garbage pit.
- Distraction method … With this method of getting rid of the sounded pathology, specialists work on the patient's subconsciousness. He is invited to get rid of some of the things to help the same orphanage. This technique is very effective if the patient is a kind and compassionate person.
- Friendly conversation … It is on this method that cognitive behavioral therapy is based, which is popular among specialists. The patient is encouraged to voice his fear, and then it is recommended to face it face to face to further eliminate it.
How to deal with Plyushkin's syndrome - watch the video:
In search of a solution to how to get rid of Plyushkin's syndrome, it is necessary not to reason, but to act in the most decisive way to eliminate mental disharmony. Syllogomania only at first glance seems to be an insignificant problem, but in the end it can lead a person to depression and loneliness. Do not once again forget that a cluttered home is a potential threat of fire and, accordingly, the life of Plyushkin.
