The messy room thread reminded me of my moms extreme compulsive hoarding and I have moderate hoarding. So the poll question is do you or a first degree relative have hoarding issues?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_hoarding

I certainly don't! I get rid of anything that I don't need..and sometimes even stuff I do need but it is in the way :)
The less stuff, the less to tidy..

My Mum, on the other hand, is a hoarder...drives me insane !!!

My Mum, on the other hand, is a hoarder...drives me insane !!!

Yeah there some extreme anxiety issue where the person fears some useless item maybe valuable in the future so they can not discard it. I'm about to go walk my dogs and I have a habit of picking up metal objects on the road. I even put one object on my key-chain.

I chose moderate b/c I don't hoard what I would perceive as *useless items, but I definitely over purchase and assume that just about anything could be used for an art project at some point!
I am able to purge now and then, but not nearly as often as I should.

I hoard a lot of clothes, even the ones that are out dated, so I put moderate.

I put never. Tracy spoke for me. The less clutter the better; get it out of the way; the less I have to clean around it; the more someone else less fortunate may be able to use it. I think for me it is part of my OCD. Clearing my stuff helps to clear my mind. Of note, I did used to be a hoarder as a child because I did have the skills or know how to chuck stuff, how to emotionally process what was important, treasurable, etc.

My ex hoards stuff. It was very oppressive living with him as there were soooooo many things he would pick up that he was "going to do something with" and never did or will, but hoped to get the motivation to someday. I am truly more happy in my own place now that is clutter free.

My line of thinking on this is that my time and energies to do something with hoarded belongings would be way less than the amount of the belongings themselves. If I decide I needed one of the very few things I chucked, I'll go find another one and do what I wanted to do, or just let it go. I've had very few regrets.

My sister is a MAJOR hoarder, and animal collector as well. I haven't been to her house, but I guess there's just a path to walk through all the stuff.

I do let stuff pile up - with that same idea that it may be useful someday, but it seems I have a limit. A switch will flip and suddenly I've decided there's way to much crap around and it's GOT TO GO. I mean, if I haven't used that saved item in years, there's little chance I'll ever actually need it, right? And if I haven't lost weight in the last 10 years to fit into those size 12 jeans, there's very little chance it's ever going to happen. So out it goes.

The only problem I run into is that I cannot just throw good, useful things away. Just seems cruel, somehow. I heard someone else mention once - this thing about imposing human-like feelings on inanimate objects. To see a good and useful object that I once used and liked (it has history with me) sitting in the trash...It feels like I'm disrespecting it, being cruel to it, as if it can feel. Weird, huh? I wonder if that could be another facet of why people hoard. So anyhow, I spend a lot of time and energy having garage sales, donating, and in a sense, finding "adoptive homes" for my unwanted items. I also have BOXES of these items in the garage that I have not yet "found homes" for, but I can't bring myself to just toss it. So now they're taking up space there instead of inside the house.

I also have BOXES of these items in the garage that I have not yet "found homes" for, but I can't bring myself to just toss it. So now they're taking up space there instead of inside the house.

Just take all the boxes down to Goodwill. If it's useful stuff, it'll find a home pretty quickly. Lots of people shop at thrift stores, not just poor people looking to buy crap. I go there just to see what goodies I can find - got a motorized treadmill with incline for only $35 once.

Back on topic - My mom is a hoarder, too. I'm gonna have to rent a dumpster to clean out her house when she dies. :p

Not so much a hoarder, as a shop n drop/dumper. I put it down somewhere, but not where it's supposed to go. And because my living situation is so bizarre, I'm never there to clean up. When I do try to clean, I go off on tangents and don't finish. I think the solution may be just to get rid of almost everything and digitize the rest. The library thanks me.

I chose moderate b/c I don't hoard what I would perceive as *useless items, but I definitely over purchase and assume that just about anything could be used for an art project at some point!
I am able to purge now and then, but not nearly as often as I should.What she said.

Just take all the boxes down to Goodwill. If it's useful stuff, it'll find a home pretty quickly.

I feel less emotionally tied to my stuff knowing it is going somewhere to someone who may be able to use it. I hardly throw anything usefull out the trash, but yeah, that would be difficult! (I still cry when I remember the old movie "Goodbye Raggedy Ann" when at the end she sat her companion on the trash can. :(:(:(:(

Gads, Goodwill is practically the only place I shop anymore, for anything! LOL!

Some people with ADHD also to appear to be hoarding but really aren't. For example a hoarder might have 10 pairs of black shoes because he or she feels the need to collect black shoes. A person with ADHD who doesn't hoard may also have 10 pairs of back shoes but the reason behind it is different. While shopping the person with ADHD may have just impuslively purchsed the shoes, forgot they had the shoes at home, or weren't able to find black shoes and just bought more.

Thanks, Tara. Impulsivity plays a big role in my hoarding. Changes in or the diversity of hobbies create more collections. I have enough yarn, fabric, patterns, and notions to open my own store, but they are life-long hobbies I will never lose interest in. I prefer not to discuss my books. :eek:

I did it as a kid - a bit. Not because I wanted to collect (hate the very idea) or out of being impulsive (which I ain't) but out of an overactive imagination. I would feel pity for every small insignificant broken toy, piece of paper, paper clip, hairpin or whatnot .. and retire them to my closet, making sure they were comfy. When my mother found out she ruthlessly cleaned the closet out and threw it all away .. and I wept bitter tears because I could imagine that they'd all be scared and lonely now on that scary landfill.
It has not really changed .. apart from that I can now work myself up in a sort of "overriding mode" in which I temporarily block my inner self and ruthlessly throw out everything that I don't need. Well, not everything .. but most things. I move so often (on average once a year) that is is a pure necessity. And even in that ruthless mode .. deep inside, I still yearn for my junk to find a good home where it can retire peacefully. It still hurts to drive to the landfill and dump a broken old cupboard.
Looks silly written down like this doesn't it .. :rolleyes:

It works reasonably well, because I absolutely hate to be weighed down by "things", to have to carry all that junk with me. And the sight of all those piles depresses me .. I can't avoid piles, but I can at least try and minimise them.

I did it as a kid - a bit. Not because I wanted to collect (hate the very idea) or out of being impulsive (which I ain't) but out of an overactive imagination. I would feel pity for every small insignificant broken toy, piece of paper, paper clip, hairpin or whatnot .. and retire them to my closet, making sure they were comfy. When my mother found out she ruthlessly cleaned the closet out and threw it all away .. and I wept bitter tears because I could imagine that they'd all be scared and lonely now on that scary landfill.
It has not really changed .. apart from that I can now work myself up in a sort of "overriding mode" in which I temporarily block my inner self and ruthlessly throw out everything that I don't need. Well, not everything .. but most things. I move so often (on average once a year) that is is a pure necessity. And even in that ruthless mode .. deep inside, I still yearn for my junk to find a good home where it can retire peacefully. It still hurts to drive to the landfill and dump a broken old cupboard.
Looks silly written down like this doesn't it .. :rolleyes:

It works reasonably well, because I absolutely hate to be weighed down by "things", to have to carry all that junk with me. And the sight of all those piles depresses me .. I can't avoid piles, but I can at least try and minimise them.

Nope, doesn't sound silly at all. I understand everything you said. My biggest heartbreaker is changing cars. Perhaps because they are so large and seem to have life (and even a mind of their own sometimes). I still feel sad (and guilty, if you can believe it) for trading in my old van that I traveled across country and lived in for a while. Kinda like it was an old friend - felt like I owed it more than that. Like I abandoned it. Hate to think whatever happened to it.

So anyways, I could see how a person might decide to just keep it. However, I can usually see that just because I feel bad about it - keeping it is not really a sane course of action. Just like when I see an animal that needs a home and I would love to save it - - again, I can see ahead and decide that despite my feelings, it would not be a sane course of action. My sister does not seem to have those kinds of checks and balances, and just goes with what she feels.

Luthien - you're so right about moving. I become less and less attached to items the more times I have to move them! LOL :D

I will find a cardboard square and think to myself I cant throw this away.. I will use it for art projects. Which I probobly will.

I chose moderate b/c I don't hoard what I would perceive as *useless items, but I definitely over purchase and assume that just about anything could be used for an art project at some point!
I am able to purge now and then, but not nearly as often as I should.
That is soooo me. But keeping stuff that can be used for art isn't really hoarding, it's seeing potential in everyday items.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :rolleyes:

OMGoodness. Books, magazines and select newspapers. Rip'em out of my cold dead hands.

On the other hand, my ADD relative is much worse than I. The narrow path around his house is framed by books and magazines, chest high. His plan: start a non-profit library in retirement. He's well into retirement . . . no library yet. As for me, I wouldn't lend a single tome. I sometime might urgently need to check something on page . . . . huh?

I compulsively hoard, I also buy things because I couldn't find the item I already had. I will pick up a bolt and bring it home to put with my stash of bolts, same with nuts and washers. I tend to pick up anything that might be useful sometime down the road. It's hopeless, I'm sure that this is just me.:D

I will find a cardboard square and think to myself I cant throw this away.. I will use it for art projects. Which I probobly will.

Given an infinite time interval any hoarder might be able to say the same.

i have been a moderate hoarder...but with things that make no sense to me. Like emptying say...a box of cereal then putting it back in the cupboard. i do this with LOTS of things...laundry detergent, 12 packs of soda...you name it.

Interestingly enough, when i started meds, i went through and threw them all away.

the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property) that appear to be useless or of limited value
living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed
significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding

Geez, after reading the Expedia symptoms of compulsive hoarding - I would definitely fit that bill. I've never really viewed myself as a "hoarder" (that sounds so dramatic and like anyone who was one would be all sorts of weird and eccentric -- and I don't believe that I am . . . ?). Hmmm . . . . :confused:

I guess my accumulation of objects and their infringing on all rooms of my house is a situation I've always thought due to my slovenliness and laziness. Like I never get around to putting things away properly, so they're just all over the place. ALL over the place! And when someone suggests I throw out this, that & that . . . I think about how much that cost me - and I don't like throwing $$ away like that. I'm not rich! So I say that I'm going to have a tag sale or sell on Ebay or something like that . . . I just never seem to get around to it!


Sue

Geez, after reading the Expedia symptoms of compulsive hoarding - I would definitely fit that bill. I've never really viewed myself as a "hoarder" (that sounds so dramatic and like anyone who was one would be all sorts of weird and eccentric -- and I don't believe that I am . . . ?). Hmmm . . . . :confused:

I guess my accumulation of objects and their infringing on all rooms of my house is a situation I've always thought due to my slovenliness and laziness. Like I never get around to putting things away properly, so they're just all over the place. ALL over the place! And when someone suggests I throw out this, that & that . . . I think about how much that cost me - and I don't like throwing $$ away like that. I'm not rich! So I say that I'm going to have a tag sale or sell on Ebay or something like that . . . I just never seem to get around to it!


Sue

I'm slowly working on decluttering because, one of these days, we're going to move again. And that will involve selling this house. Which means people will be in my house. Which is just disturbing.

Anyway, there are a lot of things I can't imagine getting rid of. My kids have WAY too many toys and junk, but everytime I decide to brave the mountain, I personalize it. H got this from Grandma, this was M's favorite baby toy, J might need this sometime, this could be handed down, that doesn't take up much space...

I never thought I would be able to get rid of any books. I always worry that one day I'll want to refer back to them. But I finally looked at it objectively. Chances are, when I *do want to refer back to something, I'm not going to remember which of the 20 titles on the topic is the one that has the specific information I'm looking for. Plus, I never stop aquiring books, so I'm bound to get another title that has similar information in it. And it was getting worse after discovering that Barnes and Noble Online takes paypal!

So, I found www.paperbackswap.com. Not only does it provide me with good homes to send my precious books to but, for every book I pass on, I get to choose a book to be sent to me! There's no charge for the site, but you do have to pay shipping when you send your book out. I've been able to get hardcover, recent edition text books, books on organization, education, Asperger's, newer novels, basically for less than $3.
At first, it seems kind of pointless to replace things you're trying to get rid of, but when you know you're just going to buy more books anyway, it makes sense. And dollars.
I can print and pay for shipping on the computer, which means I don't have to plan a trip to the post office. Unfortunately, I don't have home mail delivery, so I do have to drive down the road to dump the books in the mail drop. That sometimes gives me trouble. But it's worth it.

Next, I need to work on cleaning out my closet. When you have 4 kids in 9 years, you get a weird mix of barely-worn clothing. I'm not big on fashion trends, but even I know that I look ridiculous at 30, wearing some of the clothes I bought at 20. And just because I can fit my butt back into some dress pants does not mean I'm ever going to. Who exactly do I think I am, hanging onto circa 1999 club clothes?!
99.9% of the time, I'm wearing jeans and tank tops, t-shirts, or sweatshirts. Why do I have a dozen pair of pantyhose?

I still don't think I'm a big time hoarder. I'm getting the feeling I'm a bit worse than I imagined though.

My husband complains a lot about my excessive amounts of clothes, crafting items, holiday decorations, toys for I have purchased for my son, books (mostly self-help or instructional), shoes, etc. He thinks I should be able to live with a few pairs of jeans, shirts, shoes, etc. but that would kill me. Not having choices would just go against my grain. However, on the other hand, when I look at the clutter that I can't seem to find a place for or time to put it there, I feel extreme quilt for spending the money on something that I don't have time to use or wear right now, overwhelmed by where to put it and how to organize it so I can find it later (or remember that I even have it before I purchase another one) and go on "ignore" pretending that I don't see it or promising myself that tomorrow I will have the "energy" to take care of it... later, right?

i have trouble getting rid of stuff.

yes. that's what I mean when I tell people I was raised by wolves...totally confusing and crammed family home. and my house is the same. I collect anything that might spark ideas when I'm working, potential art project materials, and "collections" which I put in quotation marks because I don't collect anything of value monetarily.

If I thought that I would use the things I think I 'll use in art projects my house would be a storage zone with pathway. now I've just thrown away any art materials that were replacable...I can get more when I have time for that particular project...I kept things that would be very dificult to replace.

I filled a dumpster with four years worth of "art" project materials that weren't yet being used.

I am a hoarder, so is my mom. Throwing stuff out is so hard. Every so often my hubby goes into "need to clean" mode and he is trowing things out and I'm freaking out trying to hide things and bargain with him why I need it.
Growing up was hard with my mom. I am moderate but my mom is hard core. She does crafts and we hard a whole room filled to the top with fabric and a kiln in the shed. Along with every other kind of crafty thing you could imagine.She also had boxes and boxes of magazines from probably before I was born. Paths were a way of life. One of my friends, one of a the few who I would allow in, said our house gave him better reflexes, you never know when something is going to fall over and you had to jump when the path was broke.
In high school at one point we had 15 cats, 30+ turtles, 3-4 fish tanks, 30+ rats and mice and 2 chinchillas. Now while I love cats I have in interest in having one.

purging things = serious anxiety

even thinking about purging brings up anxiety.