Recently one of my friends told me that her belongings went missing for days together, things like pen, mask, handkerchief were out of her sight. In the beginning she thought it would have been misplaced or she might have forgotten, but later she accidentally found it in her mother in law’s cloth tub. She couldn’t confront her, as she is old, and forgetful.
Whether her mother in law stole it from her, or it was just out of confusion? When I further asked her about her mother-in-law she said, she has collections of plastic bags, nails or every other small things and my friend said, I would not know whether she uses those things.
It is said that about 90% to 95% of people with hoarding disorder acquire items excessively, and they do so in several different ways: buying, stealing, passively acquiring, and receiving free things.
Hoarding disorder has an ongoing difficulty throwing away or parting with possessions because person believes that he/she needs to save them. The person may experience distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. They gradually keep or gather a huge number of items, regardless of their actual value.
The symptoms include,
*Getting and keeping too many items that may not have a need for right now and don’t have space for.
*Ongoing difficulty throwing out or parting with things, regardless of their actual value.
*Feeling a need to save these items and being upset by the thought of getting rid of them.
*Building up clutter to the point where the person can’t use rooms.
*Trying to be perfect and avoiding or delaying decisions.
The reason behind hoardind disorder
Different people will have different reasons for their own experiences. It’s likely to be a combination of factors.
1)Difficult feelings
2)Perfectionism and worrying
3)Childhood experiences
1)Difficult feelings
Some feelings are hard to resist and people when experience painful feelings, it might be difficult for them to face or show. Some people may think hoarding helps them cope with other mental health problems, or distracts them from feeling very anxious, upset or afraid.
2)Perfectionism and worrying
People who tend to be afraid of committing mistakes or seek perfectionism or difficulty to decide what is needed and what is not needed may develop hoarding disorder.
3)Childhood experiences
Some researchers believe hoarding can relate to childhood experiences of losing things, not owning things, or people not caring for the person. This might include experiences like:
*Money worries or living in poverty in childhood.
*Person’s belongings taken or thrown away by someone.
*Hardship, emotional abuse or neglect. For example, if a person’s basic needs weren’t met, or people didn’t treat them with warmth or support.
These experiences might make them feel more connected to their belongings, or make it hard for them to organise them.
In some cases, experiences such as being abused, bullied or harassed, including experiencing racism, breaking up with a partner, experiencing physical health problems, losing someone close, feeling extremely lonely or isolated, and experiencing long periods of stress, or feeling a lot of stress.