ion
By Mayo Clinic staff
Hoarding is the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them. Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Some people also collect animals, keeping dozens or hundreds of pets often in unsanitary conditions.
Hoarding, also called compulsive hoarding and compulsive hoarding syndrome, may be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). But many people who hoard don’t have other OCD-related symptoms.
People who hoard often don’t see it as a problem, making treatment challenging. But intensive treatment can help people who hoard understand their compulsions and live safer, more enjoyable lives.
I know what the real definition is of hoarding, just pointing out that many liberals see prepping as hoarding so it depends on who is defining it. Every single psychiatrist or psychologist I have known has been extremely liberal, so it is a concern that they are addressing this issue.
By the way, we have always had the true hoarders, not sure they should be considered mentally ill. In the case of animals of course the animals should be saved from them if not cared for. In rural areas they would also fill up acres of land with junk or treasures depending on how you look at it. I can remember when people needed some odd thing they went to see the local hoarder to find it. Amazingly enough the hoarder usually knew exactly where it was, some digging might be needed to get to it however.