What if someone hoards to feel good and so improves their quality of life, but it someone else thinks its a potential fire hazard with no actual fire and noone else at risk?
I disagree with the lack of discipline theory of excess weight.
The weight loss industry has largely relied upon using discipline as a tactic. Usually people end up regaining weight and losing self-esteem which ironically feeds the weight loss industry.
The reason why demanding discipline doesn't work is that it doesn't address the underlying issues, whether that's knowledge about food, psychological needs, or both. Very often over-eating feeds a psychological need of some sort.
I'm not attracted to people because they're fat, or thin. I'm attracted to people in a much more complicated way than that.
If the definition of a hoarder is that they keep 'worthless junk', does Olga become a hoarder if she can't eat all of her cans of tuna before they go out of date, or perish in some other way?
I have tailoring stock that at one time I could make money from, but getting it ready for sale was time consuming. Now I have less time and energy, some of it has become worthless to me. Am I a hoarder because I haven't found the time and energy to get rid of the materials which have become worthless?
You also contradicted yourself saying that you used to hoard food, even though it wasn't worthless.
I'm not trying to be critical of you Fay, just trying to be critical of what 'hoarding' may mean.
You have focussed on worth of, and multiple items, but if someone has hundreds of cats they can't care for, they are only hoarding one thing The definition doesn't seem to necessitate the collection of multiple categories of items, either.
I think hoarding has degrees of severity and it's to do with mindset. I have two small boxes of dry store foods. I find it cheaper, more convenient and more nutritious to store some items, but there is an element of hoarding: I have an anxiety about going without food learned via my mother's WWII experiences in Germany and from my own experience of poverty.
Perhaps the definition of hoarding should centre around the harm caused to the self, or to others, not the amount, the number, or the financial worth. Perhaps the solution should centre around what the collecting symbolises for that person and whether it's functional, or detrimental.
I propose hoarding is the collection of items which in some way results in harm to the self, or others and that the behaviour is indicative of some transference of emotion and/or cognition.
I have spellcheck, I proof read, I have a personal relationship with the Oxford Online Dictionary and the online thesaurus needs a to take a nap after I've finished finding just the right word to express myself.
I have a lot of fabric, equipment and other stock for my small tailoring business.
At one time it was my main source of income. It allowed me to be a full time lone parent and work from home.
Tailoring is labour intensive and I'm too long in the tooth to work day and night anymore.
I still want to keep the business, but use it as an artistic outlet and side income.
The problem I currently have is finding the time to use up and reduce stock because I work long hours.
I don't want to throw stuff away if I can help it, as I focus my work on upcycling and recycling. I'd like to make some extra income from the stock as well as I'm saving up for a change in direction.
There is a hoarding element to it as I have stock that I simply don't need, but I recognise that. My circumstances have changed several times over the last two years which has affected the usefulness, or not, of my stock. I'm on my second run of re-evaluating based upon potential financial, or creative value. It's not a vast amount, but it's a slow process deciding what can be sent straight for raw material recycling, what would be useful to a charity shop and what has realistic value for me to keep for resale.
In answer to Mack's questions, how can anyone evaluate a need for 'treatment', whatever that is, without more details of each scenario? Even Sarah with 216 cats may run a rescue and re-homing charity.
It should be up to each person to decide what they keep, unless it causes harm to others, or themselves. Even if outside authorities step in to alleviate harm, it would still be up to the alleged hoarder whether they accept psychological support, or not.
I saw a documentary about the Titanic where a chap theorised that warm and cold currents meeting caused atmospheric conditions such that light became refracted.
Although the lookouts kept their eyes focussed on the horizon (the point at which they'd first see an iceberg against the stars) because of refraction they weren't looking at the true horizon.
By the time they saw the iceberg they were almost upon it. The emergency avoidance came to late, or too early. The iceberg carved a gash all along the side of the ship rupturing too many isolation chambers for it to stay afloat. Had they not attempted to avoid it and rammed the iceberg head on, the damage would have been limited to one, or two chambers and the ship wouldn't have sunk.
You probably didn't want to know that, but I think it's only fair to dispel the other theories which laid blame on the lookouts, or captain.
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RE: Da Vinci code mystery takes new twist
Ooh, talk Yorkshire to me, pet.