Why do we hoard things and when is it a sign of a mental disorder?

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SINGAPORE — Expired food items were left forgotten in wardrobes, including chilli sauce. Cardboards and bags stacked from floor to ceiling in a room. Twenty cats living in the space of a small rental flat.

These were among some of the sights in people's homes here that were excessively cluttered and not conducive to healthy and safe living.

Not everyone who lives with some clutter at home is mentally unwell. Accumulating items to some extent is still within the “normal spectrum”, Dr Lim added.The 31-year-old, a recently certified organisational specialist, used to have a hectic job in healthcare working as a dietitian. “My daughter’s room suddenly ‘lit up’ after that. It looked so nice, so clutter-free. I felt so happy — and I slowly started doing that for the rest of the house,” she recalled.

“For example, we’ve found chilli sauce in the wardrobe and random things like clothes and a spanner in the kitchen,” Ms Yip said.They took up a remote-learning course to become organisational consultants, certified by Ms Cassandra Aarssen, a professional organiser and author based in Canada. Some homes thrive on “organised chaos” — where everything looks like a mess but the owners know exactly where to find what they need, they added.WHY IS A CLUTTERED HOME BAD FOR HEALTH?

Even though the total number of fire incidents on residential premises dropped by 4.2 per cent last year, fires involving household contents increased by 10.2 per cent to 183 cases. These were figures from the Fire, Emergency Medical Services And Fire Safety Enforcement Statistics 2021. Dr Lim thinks that many people have picked up the habit of online shopping, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sometimes, there may be unforeseen circumstances, for example, having to share living space with other people or more people.Do not procrastinate. Once you feel that “tingling” urge to declutter, act on it immediately and keep going to avoid being distracted by other tasks, Ms Rae Zhang and Ms Vanessa Yip, certified organisational specialists from Orderly, said.

Such cases are also complex and would require professional mental health and social support, they said. Among the cases they have encountered, hoarding of paper-related items, such as newspaper and cardboard, are common. So are food remnants, stashed around in the homes in plastic or styrofoam boxes.Usually, the cases surface when neighbours complain, especially when the clutter or items affect them. Most people won’t seek help on their own because these items are like their treasures.Some people may also hoard animals, such as one 30-year-old woman whom Ms Ng encountered.

 

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