NYT: ‘Depression Rooms’ and ‘Doom Piles’: Why Clearing the Clutter Can Feel Impossible

garland
Thu, 12 Jan 2023 17:19:27 +0000

I don’t think that’s what it is saying. Hoarding can definitely indicate mental illness, but the kind of mental illness crisis they’re discussing is of a different kind. Hoarding seems less a “crisis” than a chronic condition. My sibling has in the past suffered from severe depression, and her house was filled with junk. Filled. But she wasn’t “hoarding” it. She simply couldn’t make herself do anything about it. Wasn’t even putting garbage out.

My understanding is that hoarders have some kind of attachment to their junk (collections). They don’t want to get rid of it. Sis would have loved for it to be gone. Just could not make herself do it through her depression.

So to me, the distinction makes sense.