What'z up with these hoarders?

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Remember that hoarding, when dysfunctional, is different from collecting. Hoarding seems to come from a shutdown in executive functioning that gets out of hand. These are the people who have bathrooms full of dirty adult diapers because their toilet broke and they learned to make do. They seem to lose the ability to get rid of anything at all, even old newspapers and food containers just pile up because they can't get motivated to take them to the garbage. Given how much garbage the average person goes through in a year, it doesn't take long to get WAY out of hand. Throw in the executive functioning issues and they shut down completely.

I could easily see some of these hoarders being on the spectrum. Think about aspie inertia and aspie exhaustion taken to an extreme and you can easily see how, with a triggering event, one of us could go the same way.

I'm on the edge in some respects. I do have to force myself to tidy my work desk every few weeks. I have to then throw out 20-30 coke bottles, lunch wrappers etc. The caretaker actually offered to have someone help me clear my desk, that included a box of cables underneath, I'm doing a better job of keeping the surface tidier, in order that no-one interferes with my collection of stuff underneath.

I can't throw away any books, and I've boxes and boxes of computer cables / cards and bits at home. None of the cards are useful, where would I even use an ISDN data card and where would I find a computer with a PCI slot to plug it into?

I might have a minor problem with hoarding. It would be a lot worse without my Wife at home OR working in an open-plan office at work.

Jason.

My dad (not AS) has built mezzanine levels to store his "collections". As he approaches retirement he is adding to these collections.

The house has two rooms (one with a mezzanine level) dedicated to his collection, with a couple of mezzanine levels in other rooms filled with storage. The stuff is not totally junk, however it will be a difficult task to sort it into stuff of value and the other stuff.

My mum manages to keep things fairly in order, although her 2 out 1 in policy does not seem to be working.

I have difficulty throwing out (potentially) useful objects, I suspect this is more being able to work out whether there is a potential use for it.

My NT ex-husband and his mom were hoarders, and my guess is that it got really bad when his dad died of pancreatic cancer as that was a traumatic event for them as once doctors detect that form of cancer, it's usually too late. It was one of the major factors in my divorcing my ex as I couldn't live like that. Sometime after I filed for divorce, his mom was evicted from her house because neighbors and members of her church complained to the health department about unsanitary living conditions. I'm sure my ex blames me for calling that department, but I never did as when I filed for divorce, I wanted to distance myself from him so much that I wouldn't have made that call.

I think in my ex-husband's case, he grew up in a mildly hoarded house, but it got worse when his dad died, as he said the cleanest place he was in for a time was the hospital nursery. There was no way to convince my ex or his mom to see a psychologist who specializes in hoarding, nor could they be convinced to clean up. My guess is that his mom is still hoarding wherever she moved to, and that my ex is still a hoarder as well.

My eldest brother is a hoarder and that's part of the reason why he lost his own place and has lived in a psych hospital for the last 6 years. He hoards books, newspapers, and advertisements even though he can't read. I tried many times to help him clean and sort out his belongings, so I learned that to him, *every* possession is a comfort item regardless of utility and it's seriously painful for him to get rid of things. He will go through the trash "rescuing" and hiding things rather than have them taken away. However, that's as far as my understanding goes, because (like most people with similar tendencies, I suspect) he rationalizes his behavior and isn't able to communicate the real psychological causes. I wish that I understood more about his problems, but I probably never will.

I'm not much of a hoarder because I tend not to acquire things in the first place, but I relate to what other posters have said about feeling sorry for objects you try to get rid of, as if they have feelings. I've often wondered if this is a characteristic of my AS or just a personal quirk. I've tried to deal with it by "rehoming" things via charities and thrift shops rather than throwing them out. The worst for me is my potted plants because they are like little friends to me, and if one of them dies I feel very guilty

I find it *really* difficult to get rid of things because I think "what if I need it?" as soon as I throw it away. My parents have to keep on top of it and get me to throw things out, so it's not that bad. I dread to think what will happen when/if I get my own place though.

i personify my stuff, they [all my things] are all my best friends

I think I have some hoarding tendencies. I can't bring myself to rid of things that have some discernible use.

• I have two boxes of old novelty items I bought when I was a child. What if I need spare bolts for a finger skateboard!?
• I have like 200 of those ad flap things on books. Some of them have funny lines on them, what if I want to go back and read them? Some of them are changed for later printings, if I throw them away then I may never be able to get them again!
• I never part with books or magazines, even though I never re-read them. Some of them will obviously never be of use. Like a bunch of books about caring for tortoises, even though I've never had a tortoise and probably never will.
• I keep boxes for everything.
• I keep receipts, delivery slips, etc. indefinitely.
• etc.

For a while in the mid to late 1960s, I hoarded US silver quarters and dimes, as they were disappearing from circulation. I still have them -- fortunately, they don't take up too much space. I suppose I should start hoarding US nickels now (like Kyle Bass). Too bad I missed out on the copper pennies back in the '80s.

I also hoard manual focus camea lenses. These take up more space, and also have to be kept dry in sealed food containers with dessicant, to avoid fungus infestation. The radioactive ones (thorium, etc.) need to be kept in a separate box, in the far corner of a remote room, behind lead shielding.

ive been hording Yamaha yz250 dirt bikes for a while now. I have 2 running bikes 4 complete nonrunning bikes and enough parts to build 2 more minus the frames.

my uncles also horde stuff, one of my uncles has around 70 cars on his property another has tons of building supply's.






its the people who cant throw anything away are the ones who have problems as they just pile up mountains of trash.


also the day I throw something away is the day that I will finally need to use what I threw away. it has happened many times.