My daughter Caroline's ex would definitely be defined as a hoarder, his house has become virtually full with little space to move around, even the cellar is packed with stuff purchased at flea markets etc. LINK David Woods was a university student when he formed an insatiable appetite to find out more. He bought books – lots of them. Thirty years on, the 50-year-old council worker is surrounded on all sides by his ever-growing collection: 15,000 books and DVDs fill his small bungalow on the outskirts of Edinburgh. “It’s quite tricky to let go of some stuff,” he admits. The World Health Organisation this week classified hoarding as a medical disorder, in a move described by hoarders and psychiatrists as “extremely significant”. According to the WHO, the disorder is characterised by an “accumulation of possessions due to excessive acquisition of – or difficulty discarding – possessions, regardless of their actual value”. An estimated 5% of the UK population have hoarding disorder but experts believe the true figure is higher. The NHS recognised the condition five years ago yet it remains little understood. Campaigners say hoarders have been mischaracterised by television programmes such as Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners and The Hoarder Next Door, which they say falsely portray them as cheerfully living in grubby homes surrounded by junk.
I've seen the garage of an old friend of mine who was definitely a hoarder. She took me into her garage to look for something and I was extremely shocked at how many boxes of stuff she had in the garage. In one area, I seen the front end and headlights of an old car, but the rest of the car had boxes all around it. The way the garage was didn't bother her at all. Her deceased parents house, that she took over, wasn't like the garage at all...…….very, very clean and organized.
Wonder if there is a difference between a hoarder and a "pack rat"? Until my wife met me, she loved to save stuff. Had a 10' x 10' storage unit, she paid for by the month, full of stuff that was in the house her ex-husband and her had. He died and she got everything that was in the house. Sold the house and her and her mother rented a 2-bedroom apartment together, but she kept paying each month, for a number of years, on the storage unit. Before meeting me, she never wanted to go to the storage unit to get rid of anything, until she met me and we went over. From that day on, before moving to Colorado, then to North Carolina, then to here in Florida and our last move will be back to Colorado, I've been helping her get rid of stuff. She has even told me, "if you see things that you know I'll never use again, just take them to the Goodwill without me know it. If you tell me, I may get mad, so it's definitely better if you make the decision "stay or go". We still have things to go thru before we make our move back to Colorado, but she sure has improved on her "saving" since I came along. She didn't have to worry about me, I pretty much had nothing when we met. No furniture, just clothes.
No, I'm not a hoarder at all. I do need to get rid of things but most if it is stuff my ex bought. If you walked into my house it looks more like the house of a minimalist. Clutter upsets my well being. All the extra crap I have is stored or put away.... I'm starting to even put anything that requires dusting or moving it to dust underneath. Still have some decorations out but not too much. For me...less is better.
Seen a couple of programmes on hoarders, could watch no more I do think its a psychological illness - its very sad No, I'm not a hoarder don't like chaos, I have kept things for a while till I happen upon them and think what did I keep that for !
Hoarding is just like having too many pets...…...IOW, pet hoarding. The SPCA is always finding people who have to many pets and can't take care of them. Legal issues happen then.
I could easily become one, LOL!!! I enjoy hunting for books, antiques, and collectibles at bargain prices. I also was brought up in a world of might come in handy someday people that survived the Great Depression. They say that the first step to recovery is admitting that you are powerless over your addiction. So if you find yourself standing in the bottom of a deep hole the first thing that you need to do is stop digging! I doubt that I will ever stop digging entirely but I have cleared the decks of any might come in handy someday items that would cost less than twenty bucks to replace in the event that I ever need them. I have also instituted a catch and release program for my collectibles. I keep a box in the closet for things that I will drop off at the charity shop as new and more interesting/valuable items are added to my collections. I'm afraid I will always be battling my addiction to stuff the way some folks battle the spread of kudzu! "Be thankful that I don't collect cats!" - Aunt Bea
Yes, I think there have been shows on animal hoarding also.....which is really animal abuse because most of these animals are starving, filthy, sick, etc. Pets are expensive...vet bills are high so there is no way someone can have 50 cats and afford to take care of them properly.
I don't think I'm a hoarder. I don't mind throwing stuff away at all. But it is so difficult to get rid of junk here, especially big items you can't stuff in the weekly trash. I really don't know how people get rid of big items if they don't have a friend with a pickup truck, or can afford to pay someone to haul stuff off. It is a big hassle to go to the landfill even with a truck. So I try to save things up and make just a few trips. That causes procrastination and "accumulation." Just getting rid of old fluorescent light bulbs is tricky here.