HOARDING. A REALITY CHECK
Whoa! Before you start thinking you have some hideous ‘hoarding’ disorder because you have a garage full of stuff… a little reality check.
Are there more than one million Australians who can be classified as having a serious issue with hoarding? Are one in 20 of us bordering on having an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with our stuff?
I very much doubt it.
That’s the statistic that’s been bandied about over the past few days, making people feel guilty about the stuff they have. I’m prepared to say that’s a wildly inflated number.
Now, I am no clinical psychologist, however I did spend a year researching this very topic for a four-part documentary I wrote and hosted called Stuff which aired on ABC-TV in 2008.
By now I know quite a bit about objects and that our relationship with them is complex.
There’s a lot of joy to be had in our material possessions, that’s what the series said. Thousands of personal responses to my series convinced me I was on the right track.
Like this one from Georgina: “Thank you, Wendy! By the way, on the topic of childhood possessions, I still sleep with my teddy bear from when I was born and I’m almost 17!”
Truth is, the accumulation of stuff is right there in the old DNA.
Every human society on earth has owned stuff. It may not be the sort of stuff we have now – the plastic busload of Barbie dolls, 17 pairs of black shoes and bottom drawer full of dead mobile phones – but it was stuff nevertheless.
No-one quite knows when it becomes ‘hoarding’ and a mental illness.
Not even clinical psychologist, Dr Christopher Morgan, director of the Melbourne Anxiety Clinic who was a speaker at the “Pathways Through the Maze National Hoarding and Squalor” conference held in Sydney over the past two days.
I was watching his interview on ABC-TV Breakfast this week where he called for more research and funding on what can be, for some, a debilitating condition.
But, I repeat, that is not you or me with too many books and a pile of busted printers and computers in the spare room.
As for those crazy ‘one million Australians have OCD’ statistics? Recently Dr Morgan was reported as saying: “It’s been a largely under-diagnosed and unrecognised condition. There have been estimates… In Australia we’re not sure but it’s certainly over 100,000-200,000.”
That seems to be more like it.
I spent a lot of time unpacking our relationship with our objects in my own research. (And I hate that ‘unpacking’ term, but in this case it’s apt.)
There are many things to think about.
Objects bring us great comfort. Enjoy your stuff. It’s yours. You’ve earned it.
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18 Responses to this article
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blue February 23, 2012
The photos. And the stuff my kids made at school for my husband and me. And the stories they wrote. The welcome home poster they made for me when I was away for a week — I only have half of it and don’t know where the other half went, and it it the least decorated half, but that big piece of yellow paper they bought at the local newsagent and then decorated it witth streamers and a big ‘welcome home, mum,’ and hung over the doorway is one of those value-less things that mean more to me than anything.
Yet it’s so strange. When I die, I know it will be just thrown out in the rubbish (hopefully recycled) because it only means something to me.
I tend more though to hoard the memories of the cuddles and kisses of my children when they were little and great big hugs I get now they are adults. I love those hugs. There are no photos of those precious moments so you can’t see them but they are always there. When I think of one of my children givine me a hug I can feel it all over again. Really, sick-makingly sentimental, I know. But there you have it.
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Cate February 23, 2012
So glad you wrote this Wendy. I saw a story elsewhere quoting those ‘million’ stats and thought it ridiculous.
I collect things, mostly old antique thngs which have character. Old teapots, jugs, plates, photos, frames, utensils, tins, even cleaning products. Everybody in my family knows to not chuck out anything old until I’ve given them the nod. I buy too many shoes, and probably too many clothes. But I am FAR from a hoarder. I cull regularly. Even to the point where I search for things I desperately want to use or wear, then remember I discarded them during the last cleanup or house move.
And now coloured jeans are back in fashion, dammit. -
Helen February 23, 2012
Mt in-laws were terrible hoarders but I know it stems from the depression years when recycling and reusing was the norm, a habit they couldn’t break. I regularly sort out and give to the op shops but now with retirement in view i am culling one cupboard at a time. If it doesn’t fit in the caravan and my daughter won’t use it – it will go!
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Sou February 23, 2012
I recall a couple of years ago, a scientific organisation making wildly inflated claims about the number of obese adults in Australia. According to their ‘report’ – half the adults in Australia were not just overweight, they were obese. This was unchallenged by mainstream media, incidentally.
This is a similar situation.
There is no credibility in inflating claims for what are real problems. It does nothing for public trust in organisations or the media.
The true facts should be enough grounds for action.
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Kid February 23, 2012
Thank you again for a broader perspective, a reality check our parrot media desperately need.
The stuff we store, keep, hoard, etc can often comprise the only physical evidence to validate our memories. What is a life, if we can’t point to tangible physical evidence of our memory or experience of it?
I know there are people who even have problems throwing out their garbage. That is a different issue. I think we have to be really careful about “medicalising” behaviour purely because it is rare or extreme.
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kate February 23, 2012
as a psych who once worked a clinic specialising in ocd and hoarding i think the million figure is ludicrous. i would think the one hundred thousand is encompassing the range of mild to severe hoarders. while some folks might benefit from a cull a clean and a bit of organising of their stuff it is not in the order of true hoarding, doesnt cause distress or danger and does not need treatment.
i agree it is easier though to buy with wendy,s philosophy in mind, buy well buy once. many who over-shop are buying and rebuying alternatives instead the one item they really wanted/needed. i know i have done this, buying two or three not- quite- right cardies rather the exactly right but more expensive one. a false economy in many ways. but i have never regretted aquality purchse.
my personal goal this year is to get rid of lots of papers… except not really. i am digitising them so i will still have them just not in paper form. bought an amazing scanner which does both sides at once and twenty pages a minute and do apile a week. i am alo scanning some old photos to lod into family tree and share with others but i will never let the originals go.-
Katherine March 1, 2012
Kate, I’ve seen those scanners in the US … the regular ones seem such tedious work. Can you possibly recommend the one you’re using? Thanks
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Kate March 1, 2012
HI
I bought a Fujitsu SnapScanner 1500 which works with Mac and PC so i could use with work and home laptops. It is very small as it folds in on itself and takes up little desk space and is very fast. I watched some Youtube clips with it in operation and read a few reviews. Try google it and see what you think. I am only 1 month in but s far hassle free.It also is smart enough to decide if the scan when double sided has blank pages and to take them out. Can also take some receipts and add data to spread sheets although i have not done this.
I am working hard to scan in all new bills etc and shred all but most necessary ones and each week to scan a small bath of the old papers while i watch a movie or something.I did look into getting very big one for a month on rental plan and knocking it all over but worked out almost same cost as this one and was only 4 sheets faster.
Hope that helps.
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Lissanne / SORTED! February 23, 2012
I’m one from the “decluttering” industry and have been in business ten years. In my experience, people’s interpretation of “hoarding” varies wildly from the industry definitions, measures and tools, and your average punter is pretty harsh on themselves. “I’m a hoarder!” they cry. No you’re not! I usually tell them. Bona fide hoarding isn’t that pedestrian.
Beyond industry standards, I reckon I have a measure of sorts: I see cluttered homes and offices every day, all across Australia. So I would like to think I have a somewhat broader view that the clients who present. In most cases, the stuff is rarely a problem, rather the relationship to it is, or any potential safety hazards (rare). Most of us are not as unhealthy as we think we are when it comes to our stuff.
Would love to hear more about your opinion of the part ‘we’ play Wendy!
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Giselle February 25, 2012
Buying quality and rethinking that ‘I want’ emotion when we see all these lovely things, most times we don’t really need them at all. A daily dose of the wonderful Annie Leonard and the ‘Story of Stuff’ http://www.storyofstuff.org does us the world of good.
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Gwen February 27, 2012
I went to a public lecture on this topic a couple of years ago and one speaker showed a series of photos in ascending order of messiness to indicate the ranges from “normalish” up to “serious problem”. He made the point that many parents in the audience would relate level 5 or 6 to how their teenager’s bedroom might look. I have always justified my collections and stuff as indicating “personality and style” as opposed to living in a display home. I do acknowledge that there are some areas of excess and that I will have a challenge when we downsize our home but no-one is harmed by it and the million figure seems to me to be pathologizing many of us in a way that is not necessary.
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elianda lee February 29, 2012
recieved the dvd as my birthday present, it is fantastic.
Wendy your Dad is very funny, love the bit about holding the milk, in one hand and riding the bike and it is filled with so much humour, and insight to the problem of HOARDING.I solved the problem with a FRIDGE magnet.
DEAD MEN HAVE NO POCKETS, so i only buy what I need, and travel the world with the savings, also I do not own a car… my husband is my chauffeur, one car family…
