I have never met a senior who doesn’t have a houseful of useless things. Okay, some of it they may have been using but definitely about 75% of it is not at all essential for their existence and may even pose as a threat to their health since these things are fire hazard and/or usually scattered around the house that it is easy to fall and slip on them. However, if you ask, even kindly, a senior to dispose his “treasures”, you are sure to hear a handful from them! You just don’t ask that from a senior, as these things are hoarded with love.

So obviously there is a hoarding problem here and I won’t deny the fact that there is an urge. I myself fall into this from time to time. Memories are often associated with things and since these things hold connection to the memory, you cannot really blame a senior if he or she refuses to let go. Surprisingly, it was found out that the urge to hoard is connected to your ability to remember. In fact, studies are currently looking into it as a warning sign for dementia. Some even found hoarding to be a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease.

Taking it to extreme, there is a condition known as Compulsive Hoarding and it was reported to have affected 2 million Americans, and many more outside the US. These, of course, are only the ones properly diagnosed. Furthermore, it was observed to be always in combination with more serious psychological disorder such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and schizophrenia so if you are experiencing or suffering any of these two then you find yourself feeling the sudden urge to hoard then it is best to consult your doctor at once since it is an indication that you are developing another disorder or your primary disorder is branching out.

If you are trying to overcome the urge to hoard, it is best if you start with what you already have, that is the things gathering dust right now inside your home. However, take it slow. If you are like me who unknowingly accumulated junk overtime that it eventually became some kind of a hoarding problem without me knowing it, then chances are, you really cherish these things and didn’t intentionally hoard – if that makes sense. Go over your things once, choose the ones you can give up then give it a rest. Go over it again the second time then try to choose another batch of things you can easily give up without feeling guilty or even regret. Then do it again the third time. Then again, until you become used to the feeling of giving up the things that you don’t use anymore.

Another useful trick that you might want to try is putting your things in a box then labeling them with dates. If after 6 months and you don’t reach into anything in there then that only means that the things inside this box is good to go!