Not a hoarder

A few days ago I watched a reality t.v. show on hoarders.  And two nights ago I saw an extreme one:  an English guy who had so many newspapers saved that he had to squirm on his belly to get under the top of his doorways.  His ceiling lights were only about two feet from the top of the newspapers!

After a lot of reflection, I've decided that I am not a hoarder.  I'm definitely on the spectrum -- but I'm nowhere close to the ''clinical'' end.  Although I'm probably on the dangerous side of the mid-point.

(BTW -- photo is from the web.  Not my house!!!)

Here's my reasoning:

1) I collect things -- but only within specific realms:  glow-in-the-dark objects, green things, frog things, figurines doing martial arts, figurines playing instruments, scraps of wood, rusty chunks of metal.  But I don't have rooms of these things -- they're pretty ''contained''.  And I don't collect fabric or plastic bits.

2) I only collect within certain parameters.  For example, all my glow-in-the-dark items are gifts, or I got them for less than five bucks.  And I only get them if they appeal:  no demon heads.  For scraps of lumber, once my stash reached a certain size, I stopped picking up pieces shorter than my forearm.

3) I actually get rid of things.  I throw things away, give things away, and recycle.  As long as I can find a good home for something, I don't mind letting go of it.  Mostly it's that I can't stand waste:  people throwing things away that are still good, or would be good with only a minor repair (e.g. a missing button).

4) My quasi-hoarding behavior has actually decreased, not increased, over time.  I collect less lumber than I did a few years ago, and I am more likely to turn down offers of ''free'' things.  I generally decline things that I don't have a pretty good idea of how I'd use it.

5) I actually use some of my stash.  For example, although I haven't used each piece (yet!), I regularly raid my stash of wood for various projects.


That being said, I've heard that mental illness don't get better with age.  So I need to continue to monitor my behavior.


--GG