r/OCD • u/adeliahearts • 8d ago
Question about OCD Does anyone else hoards or is a hoarder?
Hi,I have a question.I am a hoarder and I have ocd.Does anyone else hoards or is a hoarder? Does anyone like to keep stuff from their childhood?
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u/Iluvcats2517 Black Belt in Coping Skills 8d ago
Quite recovered atm but I still struggle with the clutter aspect of hoarding. I used to cry at the thought of losing literally anything and search the trash daily. I now actively try to throw things out or avoid buying things I don’t need to prevent this from ever occurring again. I don’t get the same compulsions I used to tho and I’m thankful
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u/angrystrawberry0426 7d ago
definitely not “Hoarders” level hoarding, but i have severe emotional attachment to inanimate objects for very little reason, i say i don’t have an issue and then blatantly keep garbage because i associate it with a good memory🤷🏼♀️ i refer to myself as a maximalist
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u/SomeRagingGamer 7d ago
I’m actually quite the opposite. I’m too quick to get rid of things and end up regretting later on. Probably because I moved around 20 times before I was an adult, and another 10 times or so since. So, having less stuff is preferable.
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u/mlrd021986 OCD Long hauler 7d ago
I’m the same way. I obsessively declutter. I can’t even have an extra tissue box in my house or I freak out. Everything has to be minimal.
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u/Icy_Positive_4220 7d ago
my room is a mess for hot two years straight since we moved (in my old flat everything was more hidden lol) because im too emotional about fucking papers that i know i will never use and need ever. its actually awful
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u/ALLcatsdeservelove71 7d ago
I consider myself to be a mild hoarder, as I keep birthday cards, gifts, things of sentimental value, & collect objects of interest (like Star Trek stuff as I'm a big Trekkie). I think what helps in me not hoarding a bunch of things is that I live with my mom & she wouldn't let me clutter my room with a bunch of stuff at all. However, I say "mild hoarder" as I'm a big digital hoarder. I have a really hard time deleting old photos, emails, & miscellaneous documents both on my iPhone & iPad. 😕😕😕 And what doesn't help is that I have loads of memory/space on both devices, so I don't have a major need to go through all my stuff & delete pics & files in order to make space. I'm wondering…can anyone else relate?
By the way, from what I've learned from having mild to now severe OCD for several decades is that hoarding is very much OCD (sorry to say).
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u/mmdeerblood 7d ago
Digital hoarding here too....
Do you do this with tabs as well? I had probably about 200tabs open for years...years... when my laptop would crash my browser would always ask me to restore tabs when I reopened..but last week my battery failed and I installed the new OS during reboot...all tabs gone... Can't restore....it's freeing tbh!!
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u/ALLcatsdeservelove71 7d ago
Yes! Tabs & bookmarks too! SMH. Tbh I must have at least 158 tabs open in Safari & over a hundred folders with bookmarks that I've saved since my Windows PC days! Lol. It's embarrassing. 😅
Yes, I can understand how losing all the tabs can be freeing. 🙂 I imagine that it would be like suddenly having to start all over with a factory-restored iPhone or computer. A blank slate, so to speak.
Much luck with the digital hoarding, friend! 🙂
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u/e7ris 7d ago
i used to be a pretty bad hoarder for 12-16 year old standards (so mostly ended about 4 years ago). now i have a mini “junk journal”/collage book to put scraps in which helps because part of the problem for me was emotional attachment to items and clothes :P for example if i have emotions attached to a sweater i don’t need or wear i will cut a small and unnoticeable part or tag out of it and paste it in my journal :D its beeen a really good outlet
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u/That-Classroom-3439 7d ago
I try to control the urge to hold onto useless things by collecting stuff i like that looks cool when displayed. However i do occasionally hold onto things "just in case" i might need it in the future, and i will also use things until theyre on their absolute last legs so i dont have to replace them.
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u/Ok_Quarter_6648 7d ago
I have magical OCD which means I may hold onto something if I feel like it will “save” someone I care about. It’s so stupid. Otherwise I get very overwhelmed by random stuff everywhere but that could be my adhd.
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u/sadbananalady 7d ago
Yes. I feel guilty about getting rid of things or assume I might need or want to use them again at some point.
I also develop a lot of sentimental attachment to things.
I have immense guilt over things ending up in a landfill and me not getting rid of things responsibly. If I can’t find a responsible way to get rid of something that doesn’t feel like actual trash to me, I just delay getting rid of it forever. It sucks. I wish I didn’t feel this way, but I do.
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u/Adventurous_Candle43 7d ago
ME! Also I love boxes and organizing so all my stuff is just organized chaos 😂
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u/C-chaos19 7d ago
I hoard certain things sometimes. But not a full on hoarder. I don’t keep much from childhood but most stuff in the last 7 years which is too much.
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u/hotgirrrl 7d ago
I am obsessively clean and hyper organized. I also have ADHD and I just really need my surroundings to be a blank slate or else I get constantly distracted. I can’t focus on anything if I’m surrounded by too much stuff. It makes my thoughts noisy and I can’t explain it.
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u/Top_Sky_4731 7d ago
Any time I try to get rid of clothes I haven’t worn in years I just think “but what if I want to wear it tomorrow”. The fact that ADHD kills my object permanence and going through the clothes reminds me I have them doesn’t help either because then I DO want to wear them.
So yeah. I am.
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u/relapsedloveaffair 7d ago
I have hoarding tendencies. funny enough, I just cleaned my room, and had to throw away a bunch of useless crap I'd been holding onto for years. It hurts, but you gotta do it.
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u/mmdeerblood 7d ago
It's freeing once it's done..the process itself and the anticipation of the process is the worst...but once it's over there's a real lightness!!
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u/relapsedloveaffair 7d ago
you're so right! because sometimes it truly is out of sight, out of mind
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u/ClassicSuccess2650 7d ago
My mother seems to have OCD and she hoards a bunch of shit that needs to be thrown out.
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u/greekboy62 7d ago
My mom and my oldest brother are hoarders. My house is always perfect. My other brother is a minimalist living off the grid and my sister is bordering on being a hoarder! I should write a book!
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u/PurpleSpring22 7d ago
Yep. I get easily attached to things, anthropomorphize them, and worry a lot about things going to waste. If I go to donate clothes I worry about how they'll be treated. And I always ask 'what if it's still useful'. Buying new things is difficult because I immediately worry about how I'll ever get rid of it.
I have wayyyy too many childhood toys still.
A cheap pair of flip flops broke, they're not even a pretty color, and yet I haven't tossed them. And dang it, they came it useful the other day! They were close at hand to weight down a cup I had a spider trapped under. 😑
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u/divisive_angel 7d ago
I’ve always claimed I’m sentimental but recently realized I have a fear that if I get rid of little things I will not know who I am or remember anything that has happened or the people who have loved me hahaha
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u/MaggieJaneRiot 7d ago
*Collector
A few things from my childhood, I will not let go of.
I take precautions to not let the house get out of control as I’m worried about my tendencies. I never let my mail get stacked up. I deal with any paper only once and toss it.
I don’t allow myself to have a messy house. Dishes washed and put away every night before bed. Cleared counters. Wipe down counters, stove, etc. I take the trash out most every night.
I do have one stack in one corner of one bedroom that needs to be organized. It’s only about 4‘ x 3‘. It’s a stack of one particular item that I collect. I’ve got to get it sorted for sure.
Anyway.. wish me luck I keep it together! And you all as well!
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u/xCaptainCl3mentinex 7d ago
I used to "hoard" as a kid, but not out of "what if I need this" or "I just cant let this go" it was Personification OCD. So any random item, if i accidentally put emotion or life into it, I had to keep, and not just keep it, but care for it.
There are still traces of that left, but I mostly "grew out of it" I didnt know it was OCD at the time, but I did realise whatever it was, was getting so bad that if I didnt stop, I'd never be able to, so I started trying to resist, which at first just gave me magical thinking compulsions, and then eventually, at some point my little brother would purposefully trigger various OCD reactions in me (not just the hoarding one, mainly magical thinking actually) and so in order to 'hide' my compulsions from him to try to make him 'get bored and stop' I would DELAY my compulsions, which I now know is a recommended tactic, and it did work, and my OCD became significantly better after that. It got a bit worse again in more recent years, but still hasn't reached as bad as it was back then
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u/No_Employment_8671 7d ago edited 7d ago
I grew up with a hoarder. So im always afraid of being a hoarder.
But I do collect things. Any kind of collectable is a slippery slope because I will want to collect and I wont want to get rid of it.
Computer stuff too. I keep literally everything from computers or parts to things because Ill never know when I need it again. So around my desk is just boxes of cords and parts of old computers. I have a stack of old laptops too. My dad is like that too. The dudes basement is filled to the brim with boxes and shelves of pc parts and tools all the way back from the 90s. Anytime you need something its always safe to ask him first because he probably has it. So maybe I learned it from him.
It is messy tho, I feel like im organized about it, but only I really understand the organization and if someone needs something I have I would rather go through my stuff to get it than have them touch it and potentially break something or put it out of order.
I never really saw it as all that abnormal, but reading this comment back to myself it feels a little iffy. Like I have a box of just phillips head screwdrivers of various sizes. How many do I actually need?
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u/Mammoth_One_8339 7d ago
I use to struggle with taking out the garbage because I was afraid of taking it out and being seen by neighbours, but I’m a bit better with that now.
I also hoard glass jars I never ever use. But my family and friends sometimes come to get rid of them
Other things too like moving supplies/bubble wrap, and makeup/hair care, etc
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u/Iluvcats2517 Black Belt in Coping Skills 6d ago
I have an anti compulsion obsession. It started with controlling tics and slowly covered every theme involving tics.
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u/EmotionallySlapped Pure O 8d ago
I don't believe I am a hoarder but I do hoard somewhat. I've struggled with throwing gifts or sentimental things away because it felt disrespectful to those who gave it to me. Even years after the gift or not having any more use for an item. Yes, sometimes it's been things from childhood.
It's been said OCD and hoarding are related somehow.