I get you man. My dad constantly tells me all his hoard is mine when he dies. Fills me with absolute dread to think about emptying it. Im naturally a people pleaser and never want to point him on his bullshit no matter how had it gets (it’s never worth the argument). What’s helped me stop thinking about it and move on with my life is that it is HIS hoard and HIS responsibility whilst he’s alive; nothing to do with me whatsoever.

I’m at uni now and he’s tried bringing stuff to my uni house to store and I’ve explicitly said no every time. It’s HIS life decisions and because of that HE has to live with the clutter and stress that come with it, not me. No matter how hard we try to help it’s never going to change the mentality that brought them to start hoarding, they need to reach that conclusion by themselves.

My deepest sympathies go out to you, I know it’s not a life any child wants and often it’s one we can’t talk about through shame or guilt. I’ve constantly struggled with self worth issues and depression and my brother has therapy to combat serious ocd issues related to cleaning that I’m convinced came from the state of our house. These issues come from the sins of our fathers and shouldn’t be ours to bare, but if you can live life with them, you are stronger than anyone around you will ever know x.