Hoarding Tendencies

[uniQChick]

Hoarding is a disorder that may be present on its own or as a symptom of another disorder. Those most often associated with hoarding are Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Depression.
Let's try to discern which disorders are most likely lead to gathering clutter and hoarding.

If you are unsure which category to pick, this simple test "Who's a hoarder?" will help you to discern your answer.

[Ceebs]

I'm not in any severe hoarder category, but I really really struggle with keeping loads of unnecessary stuff and I'd say that my place is cluttered and it's hard for me to keep that clutter under control. I'm also bordering on neurotic about cleanliness, so it's not dirty... there's just, um, a lot and I have trouble throwing stuff out. It's partly-organised chaos? Lol. I don't think it's related to just one of my disorders though, so I'm not sure  which category to pick. Some of it is clearly OCD-related and there are other aspects that are more about ADHD executive function stuff. I do have depression as well but I don't think that's part of the underlying cause. And some trauma (not diagnosed with PTSD, but I'm very aware of my trauma stuff and the particular issues it causes), but it's definitely not part of the hoarding tendencies either.

[Guest]

I'm autistic (ASD) and am currently in a depressive episode (neat, eh?) and I do have a hard time letting go of completely useless objects, mainly stuff like small cardboard boxes, packaging and paper roll tubes, because "what if I need them someday?"

 

I make it a point to scout my house for these objects at least once a week and throw them out. This way, my appartment is more "cluttered" than "messy".

 

I don't even want to discuss how much useless stuff I have at my childhood bedroom at my mum's house back in Greece.

[Guest]

I am autistic and suspected to have ADHD (have been waiting for that assessment for 6 years now, and the ASD assessment took 5 years). I have a really hard time letting things go. I hoard notepads (I have several hundred, unused), as well as I have have issues with hoarding jars and empty toilet roll tubes. I also collect up the limescale from my kettle in a margarine tub (I have no idea why, I just cannot stop doing so). I have been trying to get rid of some of these things, namely the tubes and jars, I also did get rid of approximately 100 notepads, but still have a couple hundred). Oh and pens, I have several hundred of them too, and I barely even use them these days, as I work almost exclusively on computer, but I just keep collecting them up anyway.

 

I also am am obsessive about dice. I can't stop buying them. I have over 2,800, and whenever I see some, or an advert for some, I have to buy some. I don't know if that counts. I mean, I used a handful of them, but how could I ever use several thousand?

[uniQChick]

I have ADHD and all my life I have been collecting articles from magazines containing valuable information necessary in life. When I was diagnosed and started taking medication, it triggers me to declutter my house. I threw away all the "valuable" information I had acquired! When I was doing that, I decided not to look through the papers, otherwise it would trigger "valuable information" in my brain and I would not be able to part with it. As soon as I threw everything away, I immediately felt better. There is still room for improvement if I can find motivation.

I wish you all to find motivation in declutter your living space!

[Calliers]

I'm bipolar, but my place is whistle clean. No clutter at all. Having a hoarding disorder can be a real problem I know, but I've never had a problem with it personally.

[Jelle]

I have OCD (not sure if it comes from autism, though) and I like to collect things, so. 25% for sure.

[blunose2772]

I have Depression. My apartment is a bit cluttered but not messy. I have a big DVD collection but that's really the only thing I have a lot of.

[Calliers]

The largest collection of things I have are about 100 music CDs, but they're all on a shelf, and there is about enough space for 150 more discs so hardly cluttered, they look neat on there too.

[Blue eyes white dragon]

Cleaning doesn't bring me the dopamine that my adhd brain requires to do literally anything and collecting stuff does.i am like a crow in that matter. Plus a lot of stuff has sentimental value for me..

[Lord Revan]

Rubiks cube collection, Lego collection.

[Jelle]

12 minutes ago, Lord Revan said:

Rubiks cube collection, Lego collection.

...sounds awesome.

[Lord Revan]

It is, but very expensive.

[Jelle]

Probably, especially Legos.

[Lord Revan]

The new GAN costs 80 bucks.

[Jelle]

2 hours ago, uniQChick said:

If you are unsure which category to pick, this simple test "Who's a hoarder?" will help you to discern your answer.

Just saw this and from this website, my house looks like in between 1 and 2. Not so neat, but no tragedy either

[Calliers]

I do have a stamp collection from when I was young, but only one album full and even though it is thick and chock-full of stamps, it is still pretty compact.

[kelico]

I wish there was a way to select more than one of the disorders as I have OCD, PTSD, and depression, among other things.  But I chose OCD. And 25-50%. I'm a "collector"...and my OCD more or less prevents me from moving things in my room, so whenever I get something new, onto the pile it goes. I can't put my clothes away without bad anxiety. So I have piles of clothes everywhere in my room. They are as high as my bed.

 

I can't believe I'm saying all this honestly.  It's something I barely brought up with my therapist!

[Calliers]

3 minutes ago, kelico said:

I wish there was a way to select more than one of the disorders as I have OCD, PTSD, and depression, among other things.  But I chose OCD. And 25-50%. I'm a "collector"...and my OCD more or less prevents me from moving things in my room, so whenever I get something new, onto the pile it goes. I can't put my clothes away without bad anxiety. So I have piles of clothes everywhere in my room. They are as high as my bed.

 

I can't believe I'm saying all this honestly.  It's something I barely brought up with my therapist!

Sometimes knowing that you've got anonymity helps with admitting things.

[uniQChick]

@kelico I thought that choosing only one of the disorders would display a more accurate picture (a person has to think about which disorder affects their behavior!).
I also have OCD and depression, but I chose ADHD as a more dominant disorder.

[Jelle]

10 minutes ago, kelico said:

So I have piles of clothes everywhere in my room. They are as high as my bed.

I do have a pile of clothes in our bedroom, too, but the reason is that I still struggle with folding them I do appreciate your honesty here, though. And I will never judge you for this.

[Calliers]

5 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

I do have a pile of clothes in our bedroom, too, but the reason is that I still struggle with folding them I do appreciate your honesty here, though. And I will never judge you for this.

Yes, not judging is key.

[Jelle]

3 minutes ago, Calliers said:

Yes, not judging is key.

I see no reason to judge whatsoever, I never do, it's one of the things that disgust me about people in general

[kelico]

7 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

I do have a pile of clothes in our bedroom, too, but the reason is that I still struggle with folding them I do appreciate your honesty here, though. And I will never judge you for this.

Thanks. ❤️ Yeahh, I have maybe 5 or 6 big piles of clothes...I'm afraid of moving things in my room (or anywhere else) for fear that dust will come up and give me a reaction (allergic). It's a silly intrusive thought, but that's the way of OCD. 😕 Like logically I know all I might do is sneeze, but I'm afraid I won't be able to breathe etc. So when it comes to wearing the clothes in the piles, I mostly just pick from the top since I know those were freshly put there...

/ramble

[Calliers]

I have a place for literally everything my bedroom. So I seldom lose things, I always know if I'm looking for my phone it will be in this spot, if I'm looking for my wallet it will be in this spot, and so on and so forth.

[EmeraldIce]

I have trouble letting things go if I perceive them to be unique or have some sort of sentimental value. When I say sentimental value, it can be something as ridiculous as the decorated wrapper from a chocolate that my favorite teacher brought from Russia. I do not, however, have an attachment to most items perceived as trash, unless I perceive a use for them in the immediate future that no other object in my house can do. There ARE definitely things that I don't realize as having nostalgic value until later on, though, and those things I regret not having a record or duplica of.

 

But...in my daily life I try to be as minimalistic as I can. To put it simply, I refrain from buying stuff because I don't want my house cluttered. If something breaks or if I wear out my clothes and shoes, I take a picture if it has sentimental value and then toss it. The picture is enough to make me feel okay about getting rid of it.

[Calliers]

7 hours ago, EmeraldIce said:

I have trouble letting things go if I perceive them to be unique or have some sort of sentimental value. When I say sentimental value, it can be something as ridiculous as the decorated wrapper from a chocolate that my favorite teacher brought from Russia. I do not, however, have an attachment to most items perceived as trash, unless I perceive a use for them in the immediate future that no other object in my house can do. There ARE definitely things that I don't realize as having nostalgic value until later on, though, and those things I regret not having a record or duplica of.

 

But...in my daily life I try to be as minimalistic as I can. To put it simply, I refrain from buying stuff because I don't want my house cluttered. If something breaks or if I wear out my clothes and shoes, I take a picture if it has sentimental value and then toss it. The picture is enough to make me feel okay about getting rid of it.

That's one way of dealing with it.

 

In games I have a hoarding disorder of useless items, how many of us here who played Skyrim or Oblivion (or even other similar games) had like a barrel where they would stash almost everything they picked up for no reason at all other than they just didn't want to destroy them and they couldn't sell them? 🤣

[daveb]

I don't have any of the disorders listed, not any diagnosis for those or any others.

I don't think I have a hoarding disorder either. My house may be a bit cluttered, but none of the clutter is on the floors (except for a few cables/devices), just books, games, various projects, etc., on tables and desks. Seems every time I get more storage (shelves, cabinets, chests of drawers) and put stuff away I eventually fill up table tops again.

But I never liked leaving clothes or used dishes or packaging lying around.

[Jelle]

1 minute ago, daveb said:

But I never liked leaving clothes or used dishes or packaging lying around.

Me neither. and while I struggle with folding clothes, I'm able to do the dishes and I do it straight away so they're not lying around. I've noticed that an empty sink makes the kitchen look more clean

[daveb]

Yeah. Also, anywhere I have lived if you don't clear the dishes and wash them right away you will get an ant invasion. That keeps me on my toes.

 

(still, my house could be cleaner, and I guess I'd feel like I would need to clear of the tabletops if I were to have guests over (which never has been often, and hasn't been an issue for around 3 years now)