What is Hoarding?

Many of us can have homes that get a little bit cluttered every now and then, but there is a difference between a home that is a little untidy, and having a condition called hoarding. Although we have seen the programmes on television showing people who have very cluttered homes which are very untidy and often dangerous, this in many cases is actually a mental health condition which needs to be treated.

Hoarding is different from untidiness, as people who hoard actually feel compelled to keep hold of things, even if you already have a lot of the same thing or feel very emotionally attached to possessions. Many people who hoard have great difficulty throwing things out, even if it is what most people would see as rubbish, and this can also lead to conflict with family members who get frustrated with many of these behaviours.

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There are lots of reasons why people might become hoarders. Some of the things that people believe include not wanting to throw anything away in case it harms the environment, having an issue with getting rid of things as it is seen as wasteful and seeing items as special and sentimental so having trouble getting rid of them. Hoarding becomes a problem when it starts to have a detrimental effect on a person’s life.

As well as hoarding objects, other types of hoarding include animal hoarding, which is when someone keeps more animals than they can care for but believes that they are caring for them, and also digital hoarding, which involves keeping vast amounts of photographs or documents on computers, fearing deleting them.

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Someone who struggles with hoarding will almost certainly need help and support to get over it, it is very difficult to do this alone. There is support available for those who are trying to deal with hoarding. It is worth getting everything organised in advance, like contacting places like this Swansea skip hire company pendragonskiphire.co.uk/swansea-skip-hire/ to arrange to have a skip ready to use.

It is important to ensure that people struggling with hoarding have plenty of help and support, and you may need a lot of patience, as it is not an easy thing to get over. It is worth consulting a doctor and making sure that the correct medical support is in place, as it can be related to other mental health conditions.