Oh. My. Gosh. I might be a hoarder. Here's what the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation, has to say about hoarding:
What is compulsive hoarding?
Compulsive hoarding has been defined as the acquisition of and failure to discard items that appear to be useless or of little value. It is manifested in excessive possessions in the home interfering with the normal use of living space and furniture, and is accompanied by significant interference or distress.
Okay, that's not me. In fact, I saw that driving around the city streets the other day. Station wagon filled to the brim (passenger seat, back seat, and even the way back) with junk mail and newspapers. I know that my office has been a disaster of late, but at least it has not made me a threat to myself or others. However, I'm not in the clear, yet. The site continues:
What kinds of things do people hoard?
Most often, people with compulsive hoarding hoard common possessions, such as paper (e.g., mail, newspapers), books [LMNT: books?! But I love books. I can't ever bear to get rid of my books. No self-respecting nerd/English major can. Who's with me?], clothing [LMNT: Ack! Does that mean sweaters? Or worse yet, does that mean the full wardrobe worth of clothes I've had upstairs as my "to be donated" pile for six months now. It just hasn't been donated yet... it's laziness not compulsive hoarding! I swear!], and containers [LMNT: Containers? That's absurd. Who would ever hoard containers? Total nut jobs, that's who...] (e.g., boxes, paper and plastic bags [LMNT: Noooooooooooo! No. No. No. No. No!] ). Some individuals hoard garbage or rotten food. More rarely, people hoard animals, such as cats, and human waste [LMNT: Okay, that's just gross].
Note to self: This weekend is committed to ridding yourself of all useless mail, clothing, and containers.
Hmm, I was cleaning out my office today and actually considered keeping a small little box that an individual tea bag came out of, because it was pretty and fancy. The thought of me being a scary hoarding monster made me jettison that piece of trash, albeit pretty, out of my hand and into the recycling bin. I'm thinking I need to keep an image of that hoarding monster burned into the front of my mind.
3 comments:
Crap! Containers count as hoarding? I'm having my own self ephiphany right now... I'm a hoarder. Okay, this is stressful because I have some serious life habits that need to be changed.
At least now I'm aware of it thanks to LMNT and I have a web resource to get me through this.
Thanks for opening my eyes to my own personal struggles. FCA
I'm with you on the books, LMNT. Surely those don't count. And THANK GOD you're not hoarding human waste.
My parents just moved (did I tell you that? my parents MOVED!) and HOLY COW did my mom hoard boxes. Not for packing, but boxes she had to toss before moving. Gift boxes. All shapes, sizes and colors. Ridiculous. (But practical and not THAT ridiculous... I keep a whole bunch under my basement staircase... Hoarders anonymous here I come.)
Oh, I did tell you they moved. I remember now. But I'm too lazy to go edit that up there. Peace out.
um, well actually, you may be a bit of a hoarder....
Post a Comment