I am a collector(ahem), and am working very hard to let go of things. I believe it is the result of being divorced and had to fight for every little thing I got. Just hard to let go....but have things really neat and everything is on shelving and in boxes or totes in basement. House is very neat and not cluttered. Perhaps on the verge of being a hoarder????

My husband and I both collect a lot. But I also see the difference between the things we collect and display and enjoy and the stuff that just gets stuck away and kept because no one wants to clean out. I just cleaned my junk room out last winter. I bought shelves to keep stuff on and found a lot of stuff I just didn't want anymore and tossed out.

I have a ton of antiques (furnture, dishes, collectibles and vintage signs). I"m the only one that likes a lot of it but that's okay because it brings me joy to drink my coffee or tea out of a vintage cup or eat off 100 year old dishes. That's worth having the things around to me.

Yes, it may happen because of a death or some other tragic thing that has happened in their life and they cannot live and this is how they cope. You can get help but I think a lot of times they don't think it is a disorder.

It's sad and it is a psychological disease, where they feel if they give anything away it will be disastrous. My DH thinks I'm a hoarder of fabric, and maybe I am, but we can move about freely. It's very sad though and has to be tough on her family. I had a friend who qualified as a hoarder, and although I never saw her house, I was told that there were pathways of "stuff" and her daughters could not help her, so it was tough when she passed away in her 80's. It happens more than people realize.

It is so sad when people lose control and hoard. I understand it is part of OCD and mental illness issue.

Both of my parents grew up during what is now called the "Great Depression". They did not throw things away because they felt they might need them sometime. Our house was not a mess. In fact, my mother was a good housekeeper. They just kept things longer than I might.

I have seen a few episodes of the television show about hoarding. Some of them let stuff get piled nearly to the ceiling. It creeps me out to think what may be living underneath all that.

What a shame for a person to be stricken with this disease...It is a disease and I pray for her.