Hoarding: More Common Than We Think

Hoarding: It’s More Common Than We Think

When I called a few friends about having a yard sale, I jokingly stated that I did not want to become a hoarder. Everyone knew exactly what I meant because, in recent years, pop culture has become fixated on hoarding. Reality shows have sprung up depicting the lives of people trapped with their belongings. This sparked my curiosity to find out more than just a passing interest in hoarding. What Is Hoarding? According to The Merriam Webster Dictionary, to hoard “is the hidden accumulation.” This definition was too brief of an explanation for me. I found a more thorough one in the New College Edition: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. …show more content…
Some of them may have an intense emotional attachment to objects that others see as unimportant or even trash. They feel a major loss when they discard certain items. For example, my friend also said that she had some very nice, expensive clothing that she, her children, and grandchildren no longer wore. I asked her, “What good do they serve being stored away when someone else could use them?” Her response was that some people would not take care of the clothes. I also told her that once she let go of her garments, she should not worry about whether or not people are going to take care of them the same way that she has. She likely felt some attachment to the apparel and she could not deal with the loss. I realized that my solution was not that simple to her. The way I would deal with the hoarding problem was not in a way that she would or perhaps …show more content…
OCD is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Now, more studies are determining that hoarding is not OCD, but rather a major depression, attention-deficit disorder, as well as anxiety. Studies found that the frontal lobe of the brain of someone who hoards tends to work differently than those of most people. This region is important for weighing options and thinking rationally. As a result, their priorities are different from non-hoarders. No one chooses to be a hoarder that can be a debilitating