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[getmyselfabeer]

Is there a mental illness opposite to hoarding? Is there a name for it?
Are hoarding and whatever the opposite of that is called OCD related? Do you have any experience with this 'opposite condition'?

Comments

[maideleh]

There was a blogger I used to read... she's taken her blog down now, I believe. She was an obsessive minimizer. She did things like throw away all her children's clothes and toys and limited them to two changes of clothes each, a single pair of shoes, and only allowed them to play with "real" things.

Like, instead of a toy kitchen she would only let them cook real food... and they had to do it well or they weren't allowed to do that any more. She had this giant house and it was practically empty. And then she decided it was STILL too much and they sold the house and took the kids off to drive around the country in a camper with nothing but a change of clothes each or something.

It was actually really frightening to watch how she progressed... my armchair psychiatry was pinging at manic episode (I'm bipolar and she certainly reminded me of myself...). I worried\worry about her kids...

[getmyselfabeer]

That reminds me a lot of myself too. Im not really at an 'extreme' stage of throwing things away at the moment but having 'stuff' constantly stresses me out and every day after work I find myself piling up more and more for charity. I dont think i'll ever have too little I just dont want it to take over my life.

[cindyanne1]

I do this too. I think it's one of my worst fears that I'll be buried in stuff. I've gone through the belongings of two grandparents that were just so bad... I mean, why keep all of that stuff? Why?

[eleven_eleven]

That's fascinating. Too bad her blog's gone. I've never heard of such a thing.

[frogs_n_turtles]

From what I understand, hoarding can be a manifestation of OCD. And what maideleh is describing also sounds like a manifestation of OCD, just in the opposite. I'm not sure what the opposite of OCD would be.

[watericgun]

DCO? ;)

[frogs_n_turtles]

Hrm.. I'm thinking maybe COD! ;)

[ficwriter1966]

I find myself getting nervous and uneasy sometimes if I feel like I've got too much "stuff," or if it's not well-organized enough. I think it's a reaction to hoarding - my late mother was a hoarder, as is my brother.

I imagine that for any condition you could name, there's a mirror image. And there are degrees of everything. Because my dad kept a handle on things (to some degree), my mom was never able to fill the house to the ceiling with stuff, or let it become filthy, like some of the people you see on TV -- though if he hadn't been there, I imagine she might have gone off the deep end.

[suibhne_geilt]

The closest I've been able to find is ataxophobia, which is a fear of disorder or untidiness. Kind of a pathological degree of anal-retentiveness, where the person becomes physically agitated or psychosomatically disabled if their environment isn't neat and orderly.

[dopoxottanta]

This describes my boyfriend. He definitely becomes physically agitated if there is too much clutter or anything is disorganized. I've seen him walk into people's houses and have to clean things or else he will become anxious. He's very obsessive about cleanliness whether it be his environment or himself. I'm a complete slob, so I feel bad that he has to put up with me. I try to clean up after myself because I know it bothers him, but I honestly don't see messes sometimes. I'm completely oblivious. Although, he doesn't tend to throw a lot of stuff away. We're alike in that we have a habit of personalizing objects and feeling bad about throwing them away. It's a precarious balance of mental disorders up in this relationship.

[ululare]

I think hoarding is a compulsive disorder. I think you can compulsive...get rid of things too. I don't think it would be an opposite of OCD, just another facet/focus.

[demiraks_world]

Yeah, I think I agree.
It would just be another "arm" of OCD.

[kayla_la]

I'm a minimalist and I can definitely say that if I go long enough without getting rid of some things, I start getting a little.. twitchy. I'm not too bad off though. At least not yet! But it's an amazing feeling to throw out a big box of things.

[ululare]

Sometimes I worry that the small issues I do have will spiral out of control but I'm not too bad off yet either, myself (phew).