I am going home to help clean out my hoarder mother's apartment. What should I be prepared for?

come prepared by bringing your own food and drinks, you don't want to have to worry about this while cleaning. wear comfortable clothes you're okay with getting ruined. take breaks every few hours, and when she starts to get overwhelmed and have a meltdown (which she will) be prepared to stop and offer her a 5-10 minute break to breathe. break things down into 3 categories: keep, donate, trash and stay firm with certain things like no keeping expired/bad food or soiled clothing. really nothing will ever prepare you for this, but you have to be mentally strong and not let her words affect you. you have to stay calm and level headed for both of you. when my mom starts to feel attacked I remind her that I am her daughter and she needs to trust that I have her best interest at heart. hoarders need you to be empathetic, they already feel ashamed as it is.

sending you both love, good luck.

/r/ChildofHoarder Thread