Why, for hoarders, letting go of some objects feels like losing a part of yourself.
Hoarding is a psychological problem driven by strong emotional attachments to possessions that feel like extensions of cherished memories.
Hoarders vividly remember where they bought the item, any people associated with it and the events that surrounded it.
In contrast, non-hoarders tend not to recall these vivid memories of the object when it comes time to throw it away.
At its extreme, hoarding can become a disorder, affecting people’s emotional and physical health.
Houses can become cluttered with stuff that is no longer useful.
Treatment involves rescripting memories and helping people to understand why it is difficult for them to throw things away.
Dr Nick Stewart, the study’s first author, said:
“We can all relate to the experience of being flooded with positive memories when we hold valued possessions in our hands.
However, our findings suggest that it’s the way in which we respond to these object-related memories that dictates whether we hold onto an object or let it go.
The typical population appears to be able to set aside these memories, presumably to ease the task of discarding the objects, and so manage to avoid the accumulation of clutter.
The hoarding participants enjoyed the positive memories but reported that they got in the way of their attempts to discard objects.”
For the study, a group of 55 people, half of whom were hoarders, were interviewed about their possessions.
They were asked what memories came to mind when they tried to discard objects.
It is these memories that provide the barrier to throwing things away, said Dr James Gregory, study co-author:
“Where positive memories, and the mental images associated with them, are getting in the way of discarding objects, therapists could work with people to develop an alternative image to ‘compete’ with the one that’s causing difficulty.
This competing image could capture the positive consequences of discarding items, for example, eating a meal with loved ones at a dinner table once it is clear of possessions.”
The study was published in the journal Behavior Therapy (Stewart et al., 2019).
