When Does Collecting Become Hoarding?

Collecting: To collect and keep things of one type as a hobby.

The hobby of collecting things usually starts when we are children. It's usually something that we play with. Toy soldiers and things like action figures being a prime example. There seems to be a built in desire in all of us to collect and expand the things that hold our interest. If you have one or two toy soldiers then what could be better than to build an army?

As we advance in years then our interests mature beyond childhood playthings. Things like stamps and coins may come into our sphere of interest. Items like these,of course,aren't to be played with. They are to be preserved,cherished and displayed. But the same forces that drive us to build an army are still at play. There is always another stamp to add to our growing collection or a rare coin to hunt down. Some people have just a passing interest in whatever they have decided to collect but for some of us it can easily become obsessive. Collecting and collections can take over our lives and our living space. A few stamp albums sitting on the shelf are not going to have any great impact but there are those of us that find we have to live our lives around our chosen collection. Bedrooms are transformed into shrines given over to our ever expanding interest.

Hoarding: To collect large amounts of something and keep it in a safe,often,secret place.

I think that the given definitions of collecting and hoarding go some way to allowing us to make up our minds about when one becomes the other. When we think of someone going about the business of hoarding then we often imagine someone gathering together things in secret, A hoarder keeps his obsession hidden from the view of others. They covet rather than cherish the objects of their fascination. The actual item that people choose to hoard is very often of little or no value at all. I read once about an old woman who had been collecting/hoarding old newspapers for years. Her whole house was full of them from top to bottom. Not only was this a fire hazard but also an indication of some deep seated psychological problem.

Some people hoard everything. They just can't bring themselves to part with anything. They just will not throw anything away. I suppose we are all guilty of this to a certain extent. How often have we put something up in the loft or out in the garden shed because we believe that it may be of use one day? But the thing that separate us from the genuine hoarder is the fact that every so often we will have a clear out. We sell the things that may be of some value and we take to the local dump the things that we wonder why we ever kept in the first place. Some of us may feel pangs of regret over throwing certain things away and give those items a last minute reprieve. To those people i say"beware." They are the actions of an apprentice hoarder.

I think it's very much up to the individual to decide if they are a collector or a hoarder. Do you own a collection or a hoard? Do you have a hobby or an obsession? If you ever start to wonder why you are keeping the things that you have amassed then I think that collecting has become hoarding in your particular case. The same may be said if your collection is absolutely worthless and pervades every room in your house.

I'm not sure why it should be the case but there seems to be an element of guilt attached to the practice of hoarding. Maybe, deep down, hoarders know that what they are doing would be frowned upon by others. Hoarders feel that in some way that they have to justify their actions. Personally, I don't think that should be the case. Each to his own I guess.

As always I welcome any and all comments and feedback.