Are You a Collector, or Do You Hoard?
A progressive downhill spiral of never having enough of the things you treasure
Posted September 16, 2019
Welcome to Conquer the Clutter! Our blog provides information and recommendations based on 17 years of experience working exclusively with people who hoard, those who care about them, and the professionals trying to help but feel ill-prepared. Elaine’s suggestions have been developed through hands-on onsite work (wherever the hoarding occurs) as a Hoarding Behavior and Intervention Specialist.
Hoarding is just a word. People aren't hoarders, they hoard. In fact, I would say that some of the loveliest people I have ever met hoard.
Here are the working criteria I offer to clients to decide where they are on the path to hoarding. If you meet the criteria, either you are living with hoarding, or you are somewhere on the path, no matter what the perceived value of the collection is, or the price tag on the items.
o KEEPING the items and STORING them in their accessible, PERMANENT HOME
o DONATING to a cause with no expectation of reimbursement
o SELLING the items if practical to do so
o REGIFTING . Given the financial investment you made in purchasing an item, pick one spot (proportional to the storage space that your environment permits) and store things for future gifting occasions (only if you will actually re-gift it). NOTE: The storage space designated for re-gifting cannot interfere with any space normally used for activities of daily living. We will talk more about “the activities of daily living” in a future blog.
o RECYCLING . These items can and will be removed regularly according to your area’s recycling schedule. Before pickup, they cannot be stored in areas where activities of daily living occur.
o DISCARDING. These items are taken away regularly on garbage day.
o Stepping or climbing over things
o Moving things to use the space
o On a regular basis, taking UNUSUAL action in order to access or use the space in the home; for example, climbing over a gate to go up and downstairs because there are so many animals in the house (and leaving the gates in place night and day)
o Neighbors (especially in multi-unit dwellings)
o Local Fire Department officials
o Local Bylaw officials
o Child Protection officials
o Animal Protection officials
o Home Insurance providers
Collections usually have a social aspect to them. We are proud of them. They give us pleasure and we usually want to display them and show them to people who we think will also appreciate them. We are likely to want to share them with others. We take care of them and maintain them. They are part of our “ social life ”. So, are you really a collector, or do you hoard?
Those who hoard get caught up in a progressive downhill spiral of never having enough of the things they treasure. Are your collections becoming cluttered, and could this be in your future?
Stay tuned for our next post “What Is Hoarding?” where we will define Hoarding Disorder and discuss how widespread it is in North America and around the world.
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Elaine Birchall, MSW, RSW, is a hoarding behavior and intervention specialist.
Suzanne Cronkwright is a technical writer, editor, and documentation and courseware consultant and the co-author of Conquer the Clutter.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.