[rabidralph]

I collect things, but I have clear paths to travel in my house. This seems like another waste of tax money. I doubt that the problem is that widespread that they need to spend our money on it. Soon, the police will be inspecting people's homes and ticketing them for keeping "too much" junk. Worse yet, home owners associations will probably write into their covenants that no more than X amount of house space can contain clutter.

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[csvset]

Hmmm... The Collect-o-maniacs won't want to pass this up.

Police-Seized Loot Is Online, and Yes, It's a Steal

[FormerACLUmember]

Great Article. I just printed it up and filed five cpoies ofd it in section 4, subsection AAZ. That would be located in the living room, about 3 feet down in in the pile of new filings.

Oh well, time to work on my giant collection of twine!

[tiamat]

My in-laws save EVERYTHING.... towering stacks in their basment and garage.. It's going to be awful to clear out their stuff once they pass on.

Tia

[YepYep]

Interesting article. Wonder if any FReeper might have a hoarding problem...uhhh...

[Tax Government]

"It's only a pathology when it interferes with their functioning."

That occurs long before they are stumbling over things. Ask the family of a person who resolutely refuses to throw away junk.

[dighton]

And a third, trying to explain why she had bought several puppets that she did not want or need from a television shopping channel, spoke of feeling sorry for the toys when no one else bid on them.

[WorkingClassFilth]

"One woman, for example, found throwing out a newspaper so unbearable that her therapist instructed her never to buy one again."

I'd suggest a subscription to the 'Minneapolis Star Tribune.'

That would cure her in no time - she'd not only throw it out as soon as it arrived, after she'd thrown-up she'd likely tear her hair out by the roots and throw that away too.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

I think there's a related disorder called animal hoarding. Lots of cats and dogs.

[The_Media_never_lie]

I just cannot stand to delete any interesting FR threads from my hard drive, but that's the extent of my problem. Honest.

[SamAdams76]

For some reason, I have a compulsive need to stockpile National Geographic and Wired magazines. I have every issue of NG from about 1972 to the present and I have every issue of Wired since I first subscribed back in 1994.

My wife got me the CD-ROM version of every NG magazine from the past 100 years with the expectation that I would get rid of my collection. Nothing doing however. I mean, you can't take a CD-ROM to the bathroom with you.

I guess the glossy feel of these magazines especially appeal to me. In my computer room, the shelves are literally groaning under the nearly 120 issues of Wired but it is fun to thumb through them from time to time and see what was "cool" just five years ago (still can't afford it though).

[linton59]

Great post. From experience, if you have a friend or family member with this problem, try to remove the words JUNK, STUFF, and CRAP from your vocabulary while talking with them, even if they use those words. Even when they refuse your help, it is much more helpful to say "I would love to help you organize and sort your collection of magazines" rather than say "I'll bring my pick-up over Saturday and we can take a load of your crap to the dump."

[sweetliberty]

"a national authority on the disorder who helped a group of medical, legal and social service agencies establish the New York City Task Force on Hoarding a year ago"

This is a joke, right?

[blam]

"They see more connections between things, which leads them to value those things much more than the rest of us do. "

Yup. I have it...but, I have the room to store it too.

[wideminded]

Spending time on FreeRepublic is like hoarding. There's always just one more interesting article to read. Perhaps a lot of us have more in common with the Collyer brothers than we would like to think.

[dennisw]

btttttttt

[dennisw]

"Filthy with Things" is the funniest short story about hoarding and packratting. By T. Coraghessan Boyle

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670849634/102-9379793-5270529?v=glance&st=*

In "Filthy with Things," a pathological couple whose home is sinking under the weight of their "collectibles" enlists the services of an evangelical professional organizer who banishes them to a "nonacquisitive environment" while she takes inventory of their astounding clutter ("three hundred and nine bookends, forty-seven rocking chairs and over two thousand plates, cups and saucers")

[1rudeboy]

bttt

[Ditter]

This inspires me! My 2 New Years Resolutions: #1. Continue to lose weight. #2. Clear some of the junk out of my house. (But first I need to freep a while longer) ;9}