Ocd
Personally speaking, mine started out when I was a young child. I too couldn't help it. I would save papers. I had papers upon papers upon papers. Now, mind you, I was super clean, but never neat. I was disorganized. The disorganization gave me comfort.
Washing my hands...omg. I would wash my hands repeatedly. I was terrified of germs. I hated sand but loved dirt. Go figure that one out because now I just love the beach.
To me, hoarding is the same as counting, checking, washing my hands, touching and the list just goes on and on.
I worked with a therapist on this. What triggers mine is stress, or if someone threatens me, it is like an alarm going off in my mind. I really couldn't get a handle on it until I was really settled on my own. Hoarding is a coping mechanism for someone who is dealing with dysfunction in some form or fashion imho. Until you deal with it, you will live it.
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