It's the time of year when we accumulate the most stuff. When we do, people often throw around the word "hoarding." But it turns out it's a frequently misunderstood term. Therapist Jayme Kolbo spends ...

A lot of people think of hoarding as something extreme — a home crammed to the ceiling with possessions. However, it tends to start gradually, and research has found that it can begin in adolescence ...

Hoarding behavior, often depicted in media as extreme clutter and an inability to discard items, is more than just a habit of collecting. It’s a complex psychological condition that affects millions ...

The habit crept up on Kim. She would arrive at garage sales as they were ending to pick up what remained. “I’d load my car full of the free stuff on the side of the road: clothes, things that needed ...

Behind closed doors across the country, millions of individuals are quietly overwhelmed by something most of us take for granted: our relationship with things we bring into our homes. The ...

Victoria Ruby-Granger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations ...

Individuals who experience hoarding related to OCD may have distressing feelings about discarding items. It can drive compulsive saving behaviors that they recognize as excessive. Obsessive-compulsive ...

You might have noticed an elderly relative or neighbor whose home has gradually filled with newspapers, boxes, and items that seem to serve no purpose. What looks like simple messiness could actually ...

In Amanda Uhle’s recent book, Destroy This House (Summit Books, 2025), Uhle describes an interaction between her hoarder mother and nonhoarder father: “It was weird how Dad never complained about ...

Recently, the phenomenon known as hoarding has come into greater public awareness, propelled by graphic scenes on television showing homes crammed floor-to-ceiling with an astonishing amount of stuff.