https://www.bin-store.com/blog

“Am I a hoarder or just messy?” “Am I a hoarder or just lazy?” If you are asking yourself these types of questions, you may be genuinely worried that you have a psychological disorder.

It is important to recognize that a disorder such as hoarding exists along a spectrum. Most people have some degree of clutter in their lives. Few people have homes which are totally organized and clutter-free. But likewise, those who meet clinical definitions for severe hoarding disorder are also outliers.

Following are some signs you might be a hoarder:
• You are surrounded by an excessive amount of clutter.
• Your clutter makes it hard for you to function in your daily life.
• “Decluttering” for you means taking clutter from one part of your house and relocating it to another instead of removing it.
• You have a hard time making decisions about whether to keep something or get rid of it. You may feel “frozen” while trying to make these choices. You may also have a difficult time making decisions in general.
• You feel a great sense of emotional distress at the thought of giving up a possession.
• You get extremely uncomfortable if someone else wants to use something you own.
• A fair number of objects that you own are literally unusable trash.
• You pile up papers and magazines.
• You tend to live reclusively, possibly by choice, but possibly not.
• You may experience anxiety or some other form of psychological distress in your daily life.

All that being said, these are not signs that you are a hoarder. They are simply signs that you could be. To some degree, most people can probably observe a large number of these traits in themselves. The question is really whether things have gotten to the point where your hoarding tendencies are disrupting your day-to-day life in a way that greatly hampers your ability to function.

I think it’s also worth drawing some attention to the questions that I opened this piece with. “Am I a hoarder or just messy?” “Am I a hoarder or just lazy?” These questions were actually suggested queries from Google based on common search strings. In other words, these are questions people commonly ask, worded in this exact way.

The thing is, “messy” and “lazy” are both negative words with strong judgmental connotations. These “either/or” questions do not leave any room for positive possibilities. Most people do not want to be hoarders. But they do not want to see themselves as messy or lazy either.

You probably are not “messy” or “lazy,” and most people are not clinically “hoarders” either. In all likelihood, you just struggle to balance decluttering and organizing with the rest of your busy life. If you want to stop hoarding and change your life, you can do it. But it needs to start with a more positive self-concept. Begin with that, and build from there. Once you perceive of yourself as a neat, organized person who just has some challenges to overcome, you will empower yourself to succeed.