Just what makes people hoard in London, or Oxford, or Manchester, or any other place that takes your fancy? They all have an affinity to accumulate things until they fill a room, or an entire house for that matter. We enter the mind of a hoarder in this review. We may not solve the mystery, but we will be wiser when we are done.
Let’s Step Into the Mind of a Hoarder
We don’t know why some teenagers collect clutter, or why the habit is commoner among people reaching retirement age. Something seems to set it off, and cause otherwise-tidy people to change direction.
Psychologists suggest the cause could be a life-changing event like the loss of a partner, or being out of work. Perhaps obsessively collecting things is a compensating mechanism that helps mask the pain, they speculate.
How Can I Tell If a Person is a Hoarder
We’ll probably never fully understand the mind of a hoarder. However, we can detect the onset, and development of the condition by questioning their behaviour.
- Do they find it difficult to get rid of stuff that’s steadily cluttering their home?
- Has their accumulation reached the point where it takes over living space?
- Do they become distressed when we suggest getting rid of worthless junk?
Unless a friend has another precipitating medical condition, we can probably assume they are a hoarder when they become distressed. What can we, what should we do, to prevent this interfering with their daily lives? Not to mention their career, and their relationships with friends and family.
Do Possessions Rule the Minds of Hoarders?
We could make a case for this, although answering it is not that simple. Certainly, hoarders seem to form a deep emotional bond connecting them to their possessions. Although we can only gauge the extent by their resistance to change.
Psychologists refer to this bond as a depth of attachment to things that others see little value in. In the minds of hoarders, this elevates their value to even above that of retaining jobs, friends, and family.
People who hoard seek to allow nothing to threaten their collection. And if something does, then they may experience a deep depression, and other feelings we sometimes may never understand.
Could Science Explain the Mind of a Hoarder
Some scientists attempt to close the loop by explaining how accumulating possessions fills a gap left by an emotional trauma. Indeed, some hoarders report experiencing a rush of positive feelings, as they return home with another item to add to their list. But does this mean that hoarding is a specialist collection?
No, this is not the case, a growing body of psychologists insists, reasoning along these lines:
- Clutter refers to those possessions we like to scatter around us in living rooms
- Collections, on the other hand, are neatly and tidily arranged in designated areas.
- Hoards are possessions thrown together in disorganised piles, and taking over space.
Of course, this is not say that people sit down and wonder, ‘shall I be a clutterer, a collector, or a hoarder’? All three forms are largely spontaneous, or, if you like familiar roles we slip into.
Does the Mind of a Hoarder Run in Families
Yes, hoarding does quite often run in families, although not all their relatives become hoarders (or collectors or clutterers). But Psych Central believes hoarders quite often have a relative with the same inclination.
Difference Between Collecting and Hoarding (© Avery Associates)
Some genetic studies identify a unique pattern on chromosome 14. This genetic element has been linked to Alzheimer’s and other cognitive impairments, although there is no evidence of a direct cause and effect relationship, and so we leave it there.
Get Help Fast with a Hoarder House Clearance
People from all walks of life visit Avery Associates for expert advice. You may be a hoarder yourself, needing a clear out. Perhaps you want to help a hoarder but you don’t know where to start. Whichever may be the case, we have a house clearing team, with expert valuers standing by in case they unearth anything of value.
Get help fast with a hoarder house clearance by contacting us right now here. We are here to support you, whether you need to clear your accumulated clutter, or facilitate the process for a friend. We offer a rapid, effective, sympathetic and highly confidential solution, which made us a popular choice in Greater London for over a decade.
However, we are not a franchise cleaning service. We are a privately-owned business of many year’s standing, and excellent repute. Speak to us if you require an experienced, sensitive and discrete de-cluttering and hoarded home clearance, at a price you can afford and that times with your plans.
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