Obsessive Compulsive Spartanism

tintin82 · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:20

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/ocd-obsessive-compulsive-decluttering-hoarding/401591/

Anyone else blessed with this condition? My wife has said for years that I am a freak when it comes to disposing of 'stuff' at least now I can claim to have a condition.

Xmas brings its own challenges as when I unwrap a present my thoughts quickly turn to how best to dispose of the item, unless of course it is genuinely useful.

Basically if its has any monetary value and it is not going to be used again (books, dvds, computer stuff, anything really) it goes on ebay or Gumtree.
Anything without value aka 'tat' gets pumped to the charity shop, or dump.
As for sentimental things, if it would not be missed after a house fire, its in the bin.

Drives the Mrs nuts, but over the years I have managed to reduce her shoe and bag collection considerably and made her really think about what she buys.

StriderX · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:23

That's not a condition, that's being prudent.

What is with psychology lately...

jsmoke · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:23

Tell me about your mother...

Would that not suggest you had a comfortable upbringing where money wasn't am issue and still isn't.

tintin82 · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:30

Mother is a hoarder of 'sentimental' tat to the extreme.

Comfortable upbringing. Always been very financially aware and careful with money (that's one thing I don't mind hoarding), and that is with having a variety of low to well paid jobs.

JBuk · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:31

Have too much junk and you're a hoarder , chuck out unneeded junk and you have a condition :confused:

Hades · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:45

Another made up name for a made up condition. We are all different and behave in different ways. It doesn't mean we have a disorder.

tintin82 · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:47

Hades said:
Another made up name for a made up condition. We are all different and behave in different ways. It doesn't mean we have a disorder.

Unless your behavior is extreme and causes upset to others?

JBuk · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:52

tintin82 said:
Unless your behavior is extreme and causes upset to others?

What upsets some people doesn't bother others

Hitman_Leon · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:52

Came into thread expecting beards and swords, found thread was spartan of such things

Hades · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:53

tintin82 said:
Unless your behavior is extreme and causes upset to others?

I'm not denying there are some extremes that indicate someone does indeed have a disorder. But the vast majority of people just want a label so they can excuse their own behaviour and not fix it.

Hitman_Leon · 28 Nov 2015 at 11:59

Hades said:
I'm not denying there are some extremes that indicate someone does indeed have a disorder. But the vast majority of people just want a label so they can excuse their own behaviour and not fix it.

This is true, so many people excuse doing things these days by searching out a label/diagnosis for their actions when such labels/diagnosis only apply to extreme examples of said behavior.

Participant · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:02

tintin82 said:
Unless your behavior is extreme and causes upset to others?

That behaviour can be a cause of environment rather than necessarily a 'condition'. This just sounds like you don't like junk lying around.

spoffle · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:02

I appear to be both. I've got too much stuff in too little space, but I absolutely hate mess and clutter, so I will occasionally go on relentless stuff and things purges. It's a bit of a paradox.

dunker · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:19

pretty much the same as spoffle, like to hoard but like neatness. have had dvd's on the floor too long so currently binning old stuff to make space and create more tidyness.

D3K · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:37

tintin82 said:
Unless your behavior is extreme and causes upset to others?

Would you say it's affected your wife? I can't imagine she's given up her shoe/bag collection willingly.

Are you going to get your nuts removed after kids? And how about those man nips? Useless, get hacking!

dowie · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:38

Hades said:
I'm not denying there are some extremes that indicate someone does indeed have a disorder. But the vast majority of people just want a label so they can excuse their own behaviour and not fix it.

Yup: ADD, dyslexia etc..

tintin82 · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:50

D3K said:
Would you say it's affected your wife? I can't imagine she's given up her shoe/bag collection willingly.

Are you going to get your nuts removed after kids? And how about those man nips? Useless, get hacking!

Nagging helps, gradually wears her down. Her mum gave her these absolutely terrible brass ornaments that had apparently been in the family forever. I cringed when we loaded them into the car, knowing this was going to take years to play out. They sat in the loft for 2 years, then the garage for 3 years before my nagging finally made her give in and sell them on. She had no emotional connection to them, just a 'I shall sort it later' attitude, ie when she was dead and someone else had to sort through boxes of tat.

Mynight · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:53

It does seem to be a race to label everything these days.

I wouldn't say I have this but I certainly get rid of as much as possible.

tintin82 · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:57

My wife says she lives in a constant state of fear for what will go next.

I think she probably has OCO (Obsessive Compulsive Overreaction disorder) like most females.

Gilly · 28 Nov 2015 at 12:59

We have tat everywhere but none of it mine. Some of it is the kid's and most of it is the wife's.

It frustrates the hell out of me and gets in the way.