My father is only 60 but he is severly depressed and I believe has some mental problems (though I don't exactly know what). He is incapable of working as it takes everything just to get though a day. His house is chaos. There are piles and piles of stuff everywhere. Its very clean because he is a clean freak but you'd never know becuase of the piles of stuff. He just moves stuff from one place to anohter constantly and takes things apart and never puts them back together. He's very smart and therefore very frusterated about his life. He loses everything from his keys to train of thought. He is overwhelmed by his bills even though I pay for them.
I am 40 and I have financially supported my father for 10 years but not 100% until about 3 years ago. I am recently divorced and can not afford to continue this yet he has no other source of income. He lives in a rental house that I bought for him to live in and pay the mortgage & all bills, buy his food, medical, credit card bills etc. On top of it all, my father feels terrible about putting me in a financial jam. The guilt adds to his depression. The house he lives in is about to foreclose and he'll have to live with me - which is very costly to both of our mental health and our relationship. My father is very depressed about losing "his house" and every time we try to talk about it or about credit card debt (my card, his charges) he feels worse, I feel guilty, he feels guilty and it just makes it worse.
On top of everything else, he doesnt have health insurance. He's too young for medicare or social security. He refuses to go to the doctor, even when something is wrong because he can not afford it and doesnt want me to have to pay more. I'm afraid something is going to happen and then we're all in trouble- health wise and financial.
I've searched online for any kind of support or financial programs and I cant find anything that is close to my situation. Does anyone know where I should start?
Oh gosh. My heart really goes out to you and your dad.
The first thing that came to my mind is Social Security Disability. He's not too young for that. If your dad is disabled, that program will provide him with income. After a certain length of time (I believe it is still 24 consecutive months) of being on Social Security Disability, he will qualify for Medicare. However, in the meantime, if he's got no/little income or assets, he may qualify for Medicaid. That will give him medical coverage so that he can get the attention he needs. And it sounds like he is in real need. 
I would first go to your local Social Security office to see what steps you have to go through to get your dad officially classified as disabled. Then I would contact your local Department of Social Services to see if he will qualify for Medicaid and more assistance, like food stamps, maybe housing and energy assistance, just to name a few.
*hugs* to you. It sounds like you have your hands full. I'm really hopeful there are programs out there than can help you both. Keep us updated.
There s a real medical diagnosis of Hording. There are many reasons people hord, short term memory, fear of loss, need for control, etc. It might be worth your time to do a little research on the topic. Also you local office on aging might have some rescources to help you. Good Luck. I am always overwhelmed and want to just start throwing "junk" away, but that really is not the answer.
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