What causes hoarding?

Question

lightbulb27 · Accepted Answer

The short answer is buying too much stuff and not getting rid of it:) I was with a hoarder and it was not possible to walk on the floor without stepping over stuff, sometimes stacked up. She knew it, she needed help and sometimes I was able to get her to make progress and dispose of stuff.

The real answer is they have trouble processing their emotions with items and are overloaded mentally. Maybe there is a personality aspect to this and some underlying life traumas in common, I'm not sure. But ever case is... they are attached to items and takes a long time/energy to process throwing it away, so they don't do it unless they have help.

I've seen different aspects of this too like my mom hoards paper and articles... because her memory is short, she cannot process the information and thinks it is important, so it just gets stacked up. So Help with that. When she moved out, it was like 20 large bags of papers and stuff...

Lastly, just having kids without a good ability to dispose of toys and stuff quickly... it the West, it buidls up fast.

Lastly... it is our lifestyle and marketing to have more stuff to fill us up when in fact, it just a quick thrill and leaves us empty. It's our economy and society and is highly prevalent here.

Im not great at this either... I have multiple sets of tools around. I think... this has value, someone can use it for something... I'd gladly sell it or give away, but takes time and energy and nothign happens. So I have 4 socket sets...

JDMFS · Accepted Answer

Hoarding like that comes from psychological issues. I'd guess possibly emotional trauma from childhood. I feel like most psychological damage occurs when you're a kid. As I've gotten older I've been able to recognize and trace back to the origin of a lot of my unhealthy mental characteristics, for lack of a better way to phrase it lol. Vodka is the only thing I can think of that traumatized me once I was an adult lol. Well legally an adult anyway. It's a funny story, I actually developed an allergy to it lol. Hoarders were most likely deprived of something or everything. Whether it was belongings, food, clothes, emotional needs or something else... maybe dictates the kind of hoarding the individual participates in? I think "tinkerers and Macgyver types sometimes are confused with hoarders because they accumulate too much stuff that think they can/will do something cool with it someday. I dont feel like that is the same as hoarding. Granted it's a pretty fine line from the outside looking in but the mental reasoning for the behavior is entirely different.

MORPHEUS_12 · Accepted Answer

Its most certainly mental illness. Hoarding is classified with level 5 being the worst of the worst. Many are delusional and have suffered a traumatic experience either the death of a close loved one or a divorce. I just saw a case where this woman had illegally scavenged local area trashcans for whatever she could use. In the small town that she lived many businesses had to resort to putting locks on their trashcans to specifically keep her out. One trashcan she pilfered was a local funeral home. She got into their trashcan and helped herself to pads that were used to wrap a dead body in when transported in case it leaked. She used the soiled cadaver pads as puppy pee pads. When the psychologist asked her about the pads she gleefully said what they were and where they came from. The psychologist asked her how did she feel about walking on pads that once held a human body. Her reply was that it didn't bother her at all as long as she didn't have to spend money on buying puppy pads at the store. Now that's delusional.

sejla · Accepted Answer

Trauma seems to set it off but there as been some research on the genetic factors and there are specific genetic markers that seem to be linked to hoarding.

Guest25 · Answer

There are many suspected things that can cause hoarding, but no one knows for sure. The most likely cause can be some traumatic event that happened as a child. Like in that episode of south park: Insheeption. Mr. Mackey became a hoarder because he was molested my woodsy owl who always said, "Hoot, hoot, don't pollute." So every time he would try to throw something away, his subconscious would remember how he was molested and keep him from throwing anything away. That is an accurate example of how somebody could become a hoarder, and yes I did relay that episode from memory.

DictumVeritas · Answer

Hoarding is most common in people who grew up poor and deprived. They had to go without toys and possessions in their formative years and are now unable to let go of any and everything they have acquired.

It doesn't mean that all people who grew up poor become hoarders, but most hoarders grew up poor.

GoodGuyBreakingBad · Answer

My Cousin has a Friend whose a hoarder and it's linked to mental illness of some kind
people go to these Flea Markets / Hidden Treasure Stores/ Salvation Army and they see things for sale real cheap and they end buying it. These hoarders are sad people
they don't have much in their life , most suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive disorder which makes them to have that need to buy something new or take something old
that has no need to anyone. It can be Knick Knacks , Lamps, Toasters . I had a
late Great Aunt whose basement was like a hoarders , she had tons of toilet paper and
tons of paper towels , laundry detergent, etc .. Yes , when you walk into a hoarders
house you can't find no where to sit down , it's hard to walk through , it smells terrible
their kitchen sink loaded with dishes , some have pet feces on the floor. Sadly this
happens not much one can do just pray for these people 🙏

ColoradoKid · Answer

I have heard it's a mental illness. I think that the person feels some kind of joy or security from it in some cases. Others I think are lazy. But those are just my thoughts. I have a problem with collecting shoes. I have lost count of how many pair I have. But I do know that I could easily shoe 45 people or more with just close toed footwear alone. Yes it does bring me joy to get a new pair. However my shoes are not scattered from one end of the house to another they are mostly in the boxes that they came in. But we all have our vices and I have been told I am a freak because I have a ton of shoes. None are mens I have worn women's most of my life. I used to hide that fact. Now I couldn't care less about who knows.

lilyanony1 · Answer

Depression, low self esteem, loss of motivation, grief, fear of poverty or reliving poverty, impulsiveness, anxiety, loneliness, it's an unhealthy coping mechanism to traumatic events in people's lives

ShadowofRegret · Answer

I knew someone who hoarded quite a bit, and as I observed them, I came to this conclusion, people hoard things because they develop sentimental feelings for said objects, they do not wish to part with them, and it keeps adding up until it is hard to even move around without hitting something.

PinkMichae · Answer

When some people are raised with very little they hang on to stuff as if everything has a value. They keep things they never needed but think they could use it someday. Then you also have people that are depressed, disabled, or elderly that have no energy to get rid of things. Next thing they know it's put of control and probably too embarrassed to ask for help. Another thing is alcohol addiction.

EmbraceThePain · Answer

Most likely a wide variety of factors. The factors can include anything from some mental disorders/ailments like schizophrenia to past traumatic experiences that have caused the individual to hoard items or objects. I’m not an expert when it comes to this issue or topic.

On_cloud_wine · Answer

It can be partly out of guilt from ridding something that held some kind of sentimental value to you, possibly because it was given to you by someone special in your life?

I always keep something for a period of time before donating it or whatever if it’s not doing much for me other than collecting dust.

I’ll hold it, and thank it for its memories, put it to the side, and then I say my goodbyes.

bubbles328 · Answer

I think it's past deprivation. I went times without food and became a food hoarder once I had control of my own life. There were times when I bought so much I'd be unpacking bags and filling them with food that had expired because we hadn't had the chance to eat it. I've calmed the issue now once I got more comfortable in life but my cupboards are still always well stocked.

Michieex · Answer

I was on the brink of becoming a hoarder lol, not like an extreme case I would buy clothes or order things from target & Walmart. Being out of a job made me realize I was just spending my money just because and a lot of things I never used/didn’t need so I have thrown away the majority of my stuff and it feels so much better in my house like it feels so airy if that makes sense.

Finchie40 · Answer

Mental illness / OCD , the fact that someone can’t let something go whatever they bought or gave to them is special to them so they hold onto it and can’t get rid of it , it’s value to them and a control , so yes hoarding is a mental illness

TallAnon · Answer

Not an expert, but I guess it's an inability to let go of things in general, "I might need this", "But it's so nice", "A friend got this for me".
I'd assume it's a coping mechanism for the lack of emotional bonds, so they compensate it with creating emotional bonds to physical items. Items don't betray you, don't go away and you can always get more.

dankette · Answer

I used to be a hoarder but I got help and realized I was doing it as a result of loosing things in the past or having things stolen. So I was hoarding/holding onto everything even things i didn't need. Thankfully i dont do it anymore.

jacket_off · Answer

I once threw away a recipe when I was a kid. Since it felt irresponsible it bothers. And I feel like someone need this or that. Or its still good. Or that's my dad's.(rip) Sometimes or most often I would have needed that part the very next week of that part from being toss out.

ivbnlknfru · Answer

I really don't know for sure, but I think people put too much valve in thing that are really not necessary in there lives and refuse to give it up because the feel a emotional need for it... Like using it to compensate or cover up another problem in their life... I think...

notatrap · Answer

Disorganization and Obsessive behaviour over things that should either be sold, given away, or thrown away. Yard sales and ebay.

Mesothelio · Answer

It's carelessness in the case of the picture there. But in security and fear of letting go makes people accumulate things that end up being a burden or a liability. The photo from shimmery is utterly disgusting and is not hoarding but of a person who does not deserve a house and is probably in need of assisted living.

D_Bone_Steak · Answer

Constant thoughts of usefulness and needing it in the future. Except it goes further than unexpired food.  It can extend into some really weird shit that I don't even want to think about.

Account · Answer

To me it is both an anxiety & a control thing. I'd much rather not go into details. Recently, I have been making progress in regards to it.

honestGUY45 · Answer

Could be anything from a learned behavior, to an insecurity or a disorder where you believe everything has value and you do not want to throw it away. Some people have the condition after experiencing a childhood of poverty and neglect.

koolkal · Answer

Possibly a loss experienced in their past. The loss impacted the person so much that they want to hold on to anything that's related to it. They want to hold on to the memory of the kids and not let go.

IAMNathanael · Answer

Must be too must senimental value placed on those things

SexyAshh · Answer

I typically hear its depression or just some form of a mental illness, or childhood issue that was repressed.

worldscolide · Answer

I don't know all of the reasons... I do know that one of them is fear of losing things or people, and another is fear of loss of control.

Taylor_C · Answer

It's a mental illness and thought to be related to OCD, obsessive compulsive dieorder.

slatyb · Answer

Bringing more stuff into your home than you remove.

bulletbob555 · Answer

The answer I've heard before is something happened in their past that they couldn't control. They keep these items to be able to control their environment

gagsucs · Answer

dunno, proabably the feeling that throwing stuff out is a loss and waste of money, but dunno

art84 · Answer

I think they are obsessed with owning a lot of stuff that it gets to a point where they can't let go of it when it becomes a huge problem.

Countrywildmangirl · Answer

Lazy people who dont want to clean or think they have to have this or that

Tessa01 · Answer

I think it's an OCD thing, like fear of missing out or sth

mattym11 · Answer

Depression & a need to not let anything go as you might need it, have a friend who sister does this

Snakeyes7 · Answer

It could be due to the memories that the hoarder once shared with those objects. If it’s just trash like wrappers then that is actually insane.

BoxySama · Answer

The inability to emotionally disconnect from limited to use items even if they are not useful anymore

SamirahD22 · Answer

Tired, busy, overwhelmed, mental illness or obsession

simplelikeme · Answer

Most people become this way because they grew up very poor or didn't have anything at all.

jakeofalltrades · Answer

mental illness that effects their ability to let things go

bluejae24 · Answer

So it's a form of illness, either past problems or relevant they have to get help. They cling to trash out of nostalgia or out of control

Marissa095 · Answer

Probably one day their hoping the objects be worth millions.

arabgoddess · Answer

Being too materialistic and obsessed with spending

_gigi18 · Answer

Depression, being a shopaholic possibly

Paris13 · Answer

It is like any Mental Illness. xx

TrulyPink28 · Answer

It stems from a past trauma.

BlckGrl · Answer

Probably because they feel they lost all control

LordVarys · Answer

Dont think about it just throw it out

DamnSam · Answer

Loosing too much you tried to preserve...

Iron_Man · Answer

Sentimental attachment

dthomas89 · Answer

attachment/commitment

Ianto · Answer

Not throwing stuff away. 😁

Jonathan_T · Answer

Psychological illness

COMMODOREII · Answer

The feeling losing something.

888theGreat · Answer

I am sort of a hoarder, more of a messy person

Budvizer · Answer

Probably the thought of, I can still use this.

Bismarck_96 · Answer

There may be rats or cockroaches in that mess

Plitty-Tank · Answer

Some people just don't care about cleaning up.

MuhammmadalMahdi · Answer

Natural inclination to hoard.

peachyknees · Answer

Anxiety.

sujju · Answer

False hopes of needing them in future

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