Recognizing the Signs of a Hoarding Disorder

There are important differences between holding on to sentimental items and feeding into an anxious habit that can affect your lifestyle and even your health. The sooner you are able to identify a hoarding problem, the sooner you can call for hoarding cleanup services in Tampa and confront the issue in an effective manner. Read on if you are interested in learning how to recognize the signs of a hoarding disorder.

Keeping Items of Little or No Value

You can only seek hoarding help once you or a loved one have

admitted to having a problem; however, this often takes an explicit recognition of the signs. Individuals who suffer from a hoarding disorder will save all kinds of items, yet many of them will hold no significant value. This may include junk mail, outdated newspapers, or even broken appliances. The hoarding mindset is based on the perceived risk of getting rid of something currently valueless that may once again hold value someday. For this reason it may be difficult to convince a hoarder to get rid of broken things because he or she thinks there may be an opportunity to fix them in the future.

Losing Space Around the House

Saving all of your old emails may not impact your life because this digital data does not take up physical space. Saving your real mail, on the other hand, can eventually present a problem. Individuals with hoarding disorders tend to be so reluctant to get rid of their belongings that they begin to lose space around the house. Their saved belongings may start in an organized pile, but this clutter can eventually spread around the house and render your living space unusable.

Disorganized and Unsanitary Atmosphere

If you notice that a loved one has excessive amounts of clutter building up around the house without any semblance of organization, a hoarding disorder may be at work. This overwhelming lack of organization can make for an extremely unsanitary living space. Many hoarders may not even be able to locate their belongings because they have no way of finding them amidst the clutter.