The twitter feed “This is America” posted a message about [Always throwing things away? It’s a “disease”! Have you ever had the habit of throwing away small ornaments, old newspapers, or even strips of cloth that you haven’t used in years, but you’re convinced it will be useful someday? The American Psychiatric Association has shown that people suffering from “hoarding compulsion” have an overactive brain. Then, it’s not far from latent or obvious depression. The only cure is to pick and choose as often as you can and throw away what you need to throw away!
Immediately, there were countless people online who posted and complained about their hoarding experiences, whether it was pen tubes, empty gift boxes, bottles and jars of skin care products, wrapping paper bags and ribbons, clothing tags, or drink caps. And there is always the feeling that they will definitely use them one day.
Hoarding compulsions are also called pathological hoarding disorder and discard phobia. It is a condition where people have a tendency to acquire or collect certain objects, even though they are worthless, dangerous, or unsanitary, and are unable to stop themselves from collecting them.
The dangers of compulsive hoarding include the impact of collecting objects that interfere with one’s life and the lives of those around you, interfering with or impairing mobility and basic activities in life, including cooking, cleaning, bathing, and sleeping.
To what extent is collecting and not throwing things away considered “hoarding OCD”?
Experts say that the most important thing to distinguish between OCD and hoarding in general is to know if there is a conflict within yourself. Some people often feel remorse after hoarding and often blame themselves, but they can’t control themselves from continuing to “hoard,” which is the kind of hoarding that has OCD tendencies.
The current treatment for hoarding compulsions is to pick and choose what you hoard a lot, weigh it from what you know, control yourself to selectively throw it away, and keep telling yourself, “Throw away what you need to throw away. The act of picking and throwing is repeated over and over again.
And, as a reminder, often people with hoarding OCD have experienced a longer period of depression before the onset of the disorder, so it’s important for people to take precautions.