Are YOU a secret hoarder? Psychologist reveals the three tell-tale signs to watch out for

If you have stacks of magazines in the garage, years of paperwork stashed in more than one cabinet, and can’t see your kitchen surfaces anymore, be warned you may be becoming a hoarder.

But don’t worry if you have a “cluttered drawer” in the kitchen, or a growing collection of items like antique teapots, as this isn’t typical hoarding behavior.

A British hoarding expert will be giving a talk at the Cambridge Festival, in which she will outline red flag behaviors that are early signs to watch out for.

Dr. Sharon Morein, a psychologist from Anglia Ruskin University, describes three “pillars” of problematic behavior.

The first is “excessive accumulation,” such as ordering many packs online or buying large quantities of groceries for fear of running out.

The second pillar is a “cognitive” or an “emotional” difficulty in getting rid of possessions from the home.

For example, parents may start hoarding for emotional reasons, because they don’t want to get rid of their children’s old toys, clothes, or even baby teeth.

And cognitive reasons for hoarding could include being overwhelmed by work deadlines or struggling with decision-making in general, which could cause people to put off dealing with stuff around the house.

The third pillar is clutter in living spaces.

Dr. Speaking at the Cambridge Festival this Saturday, Morein said: ‘People tend to emerge with hamster problems around their 60s on average, but it can slowly creep in from their early 20s.

“While only about one in 40 people actually have a mental health disorder when it comes to hoarding, there are a lot of other people on a continuum where they have a little too much stuff, can’t really organize it and start to worry about visiting get home because of the mess.

‘These people could benefit from help to deal with this and it could help them recognize the warning signs of hoarding behaviour.

‘Stacks of magazines and newspapers, which people have had for years because they think they could read them, are common, as is paperwork that fills cupboards that you have to use.

“Other warning signs are not being able to see the kitchen surfaces because they’re covered in things, or not being able to walk through the bedroom or living room because there are objects piled up.”

Dr. Speaking at the Cambridge Festival this Saturday, Morein said: ‘People tend to come out with hamster problems around their 60s, but it can start slowly from their early 20s’ (stock image)

The good news for middle-aged people who have started collections of anything from football cards to toy cars is that it’s usually not a sign of becoming a hoarder.

Dr. Morein said, ‘People who collect things tend to have them well organized, so they don’t hoard these items.

“People worry about their cluttered drawers, or a single closet that’s cluttered, like the character Monica in Friends, but that’s not really a problem unless they’re really stressed out by that closet or drawer.

“Hoarding can be seen when clutter gets out of hand, gets in the way, and makes it difficult to complete your daily activities.”

People who lived through World War II seem more likely to hoard items, perhaps because they went through rationing and are therefore concerned about scarcity.

Families with young children can struggle because of the amount of toys and clothes that accumulate in the home, but there are universal strategies that can help prevent clutter from getting out of hand.

On the best tactics to deal with hoarding behavior, Dr. Morein says people should not only do a big cleanup every year, but clean up or tidy things up much more often — maybe even every week.

When everything in the house has a place, it’s much harder to create clutter, and easier to put things in the right drawer or closet without thinking too much about it.

Dr. Morein recommends not religiously getting rid of anything that doesn’t “spark joy,” as tidying guru Marie Kondo suggests.

Instead, she says, “Don’t plan a big cleanup where you try to clean out the whole house or room, which many people keep putting off.”

“Instead, start small and build up, and you’ll make more progress than you might expect.”

Cambridge Festival runs from March 17 to April 2.

Average UK household could raise £200 by selling hoarded laptops and games consoles, study finds

Laptops and games consoles left in household drawers and garages can run the average household by £200.

People in the UK hoard an estimated 39 million tech items, according to research.

That includes nearly 21 million desktop computers, laptops, tablets, game consoles and printers that work but are no longer used by the household.

People in the UK hoard an estimated 39 million tech items, according to research. That includes nearly 21 million desktop computers, laptops, tablets, game consoles and printers that work but are no longer used by the household (stock image)

Digging out an old laptop or tablet to sell online can save homeowners up to £420, for the most popular brands that are less than four years old.

Desktop computers, including the monitor, can be resold for around £250.

The average UK household has one unused working electronic item, according to a survey of about 3,000 people commissioned by REPIC – a group of electronics companies tackling e-waste.

Read more here.