Are you a hoarder?

amoLucia · Feb 14, 2017

I AM NOT A HOARDER (yeah, they all say that!). I have had bursts of shopping behaviors in my past. Can't do it too much now as I am no longer driving, but I find TV home shopping VERY seductive. Hoarding belongs in the psych classifications with OCD behaviors. And yes, I do have little quirks in other areas. Hoarding has also been noted to occur in families. My Mom had a weird food buying habit and some others. I think it went back to her childhood and the Depression as all her siblings had variations in collecting. My sisters have some tendencies too altho they'll deny it and just point fingers at me.

I do have collections. Like English bone china teacups, displayed in racks on my dining room wall. A few teapots. They are very attractive and receive mucho compliments from many. I never put out my spoon collection.

I collect cookbooks - it started as I was SERIOUSLY dieting, not anorexia nervosa/bulimic but close. Had some S&S - like cookbook collecting does happen. A couple years ago, I donated 157 hardback books and over 500 small grocery store check-out line type cookbooks. And I still have a considerable amount more that are my most fav. Will really hate to part with them!

When I got 'skinny' I collected sweaters, panty hose, jeans, coats, and high heels (over 150 pairs) for the first time in my life. It was such a 'rush' to be able to walk into a store and just buy off the rack! Very few people understand the headiness and thrill. (But that's a whole other psych issue!)

I have an extensive jewelry collection - in silver, so not quite as expensive as gold. But it is considerable and when I survey it, I realize now that there WAS a problem.

My videos are themed - like Cinderella, vampires, monster movies, Charley Brown and Christmas Carol, sweeping novels. And I have a beaver collection (stuffed animals and figurines).

Tiffany-style lighting pieces.

Some of my collections cross-over, like some Tiffany-type teapot lights.

You can walk through my place. I throw trash out; I sweep my floors, do my dishes and laundry. But I have realized that I have too much and I have tried to down-size things. I do understand how hard it is to part with cherished items. A friend once told me, some of my collections can be considered as 'investments' and that is true.

I watch the Hoarder TV shows just to keep a check on myself. Do it also with the 600 lb series too. Since there is so much psych baggage, I see it in other behaviors, past & present. But that's another post!

sweetpot · Feb 15, 2017

I AM NOT A HOARDER (yeah, they all say that!). I have had bursts of shopping behaviors in my past. Can't do it too much now as I am no longer driving, but I find TV home shopping VERY seductive. Hoarding belongs in the psych classifications with OCD behaviors. And yes, I do have little quirks in other areas. Hoarding has also been noted to occur in families. My Mom had a weird food buying habit and some others. I think it went back to her childhood and the Depression as all her siblings had variations in collecting. My sisters have some tendencies too altho they'll deny it and just point fingers at me.
I do have collections. Like English bone china teacups, displayed in racks on my dining room wall. A few teapots. They are very attractive and receive mucho compliments from many. I never put out my spoon collection.
I collect cookbooks - it started as I was SERIOUSLY dieting, not anorexia nervosa/bulimic but close. Had some S&S - like cookbook collecting does happen. A couple years ago, I donated 157 hardback books and over 500 small grocery store check-out line type cookbooks. And I still have a considerable amount more that are my most fav. Will really hate to part with them!
When I got 'skinny' I collected sweaters, panty hose, jeans, coats, and high heels (over 150 pairs) for the first time in my life. It was such a 'rush' to be able to walk into a store and just buy off the rack! Very few people understand the headiness and thrill. (But that's a whole other psych issue!)
I have an extensive jewelry collection - in silver, so not quite as expensive as gold. But it is considerable and when I survey it, I realize now that there WAS a problem.
My videos are themed - like Cinderella, vampires, monster movies, Charley Brown and Christmas Carol, sweeping novels. And I have a beaver collection (stuffed animals and figurines).
Tiffany-style lighting pieces.
Some of my collections cross-over, like some Tiffany-type teapot lights.
You can walk through my place. I throw trash out; I sweep my floors, do my dishes and laundry. But I have realized that I have too much and I have tried to down-size things. I do understand how hard it is to part with cherished items. A friend once told me, some of my collections can be considered as 'investments' and that is true.
I watch the Hoarder TV shows just to keep a check on myself. Do it also with the 600 lb series too. Since there is so much psych baggage, I see it in other behaviors, past & present. But that's another post!

I think it can be related to being "shopaholic" I like shopping a lot, it is my therapy, but ever since I am downsizing I figured out how much stuff I have it filled all my room! That is why I stopped shopping.

Now that I have stopped doing my former habit, my life seem simple now

amoLucia · Feb 16, 2017

Yes, 'shopaholism' is only one facet of the hoarding problem. I too, love the shopping experience.

There's also a collecting phase with its organization or disorganization variants. Like this is more OCD when I just 'have to have it' to complete some collection or such. Only there's just something else always needed.

And there's the phase of being able to part with items. This is a tough area to master. Esp when there's real value to some items that you'd like to recoup or at least let someone else benefit. I found if I give away things to a charity for their consignment programs, I can do so more easily. They make a few $$ and I get a tax deduction.

But I think the hardest phase is when trying to STOP the excessive, unnecessary shopping. There still needs things to be obtained, like groceries, new underwear, a washer/dryer replacement, etc. But while they're the NECESSARY needs, its the unnecessary ones that pose the most difficulty (like 30 underpants or 10 cans soups).

Like dieting, we still need to eat. But it is sooo difficult to turn off the poor choices/lack of control of quantity/quality factors.

This thread is under Disabilities. I don't think this really fits here. I certainly don't equate run-of-the-mill hoarding with a handicap/disability, like working with seizures or severe RA, etc. Now if it's really problematic ...

Hoarding tendencies can be minor or major. With psych issues, I always would ask 'is the problem causing a threat to self, others, or the environment' and/or 'does it seriously interfere with ADLs for quality of life'? My hoarding has some characteristics of both. I've retired so my finances are more limited to sloooooow down my impulsive shopping. But I still have my collections that I need to manage.

I interpreted this post to be on the lighter side. JMO

Ellie G · Mar 8, 2017

My mother is a hoarder. A clean one, but she has 6 dressers in her hallway full of stuff. She has a bed with the drawers underneath and those drawers are stuffed full so you can barely open them. Every closet is full, her bathroom probably has 20 of everything. She has every kitchen gadget known to man and her counters have all kinds of things on them. She has shelves everywhere that are also full of items and there is barely a square inch of her wall that doesn't have some kind of collection. I don't hoard a lot of stuff except yarn. I have more yarn in my closet than clothing My sister is a really bad hoarder. I have never been in her house but I have heard that there is a pathway and everything is piled high in either side. One day she posted a picture of a pile of stuff on her bed saying "my bed is under here somewhere" on Facebook so she obviously thinks this is normal behavior. One of my brothers is also a hoarder. We had a house fire when I was 15 (I'm the oldest) and we think that's why the need to hang on to stuff because we lost almost everything in the fire. It is an OCD thing. I don't shop in stores much but I go through spells of online spending. A therapist can help you sort through the feelings associated with OCD and hoarding.