Hoarding: Overcoming the Suffocation of Things
We all have different things we love to keep in our possession. Whether that is pictures we have taken around the world, a collection of priceless cards, or even those action figure collections from your childhood, we love to hold on. At what point is hoarding up things you never use too much? Is there a limit to hoarding before it becomes unhealthy? Find out today as we look into hoarding and its effects on our health.
What Is Hoarding?
If you’re like me, you’ve seen a few episodes of Hoarding: Buried Alive. Hoarding can be very dangerous when taken too far and is defined as the persistent difficulty of discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value. ADAA.org describes the behavior as having deleterious effects, such as emotional, physical, social, financial, and even legal. In the U.S., hoarding affects anywhere from 700,000 to 1.4 million Americans. Hoarding is also considered a form of OCD but does not necessarily affect people who are not OCD. Those who suffer from hoarding usually fear throwing away something valuable or something with significant value.
Associated Hoarding Risk
Hoarding can run in the family and usually can be associated with other mental health disorders. Hoarding can start as early as childhood and slowly may become more severe as they grow. Some consequences of hoarding include homelessness and health problems due to clutter, garbage, animal or human feces in some rare cases. It is a risk to children’s safety due to fire hazards and clutter. The Department of Children and Families might remove a child if parents are seen as unfit. Hoarding can also lead to problems with air quality, mildew and fungus development, sanitation issues, and much more.
Overcoming the Hoard
It can be hard to overcome, but with the right effort, you can help someone overcome this mental health condition. You can choose to cease enabling this behavior by avoiding giving people a collection of things or even shopping at certain stores. Instead of trying to take away their belongings, which can ruin the relationship, help them sort between what they need and what they don’t need. You can not clean up for a hoarder. There will be no progress in doing so, but you can help them make a list of things that need cleaning and checking off the list one at a time. Recognize the small victories. This habit won’t be easy to overcome. But with love and compassion, you can help someone overcome this obstacle.
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This article was updated on 12/9/2024.