Technically, the term “disposophobia” is a marketing term coined by a cleaning company in the mid-1990s to describe the fear of throwing things out. Regardless, compulsive hoarding can have disastrous effects on sufferers’ daily lives. Hoarding is sometimes a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, but may also appear independently. Hoarding disorder is under consideration as a new independent disorder for the DSM-V.
Although not strictly defined as a phobia, hoarding has much in common with specific phobias.
While collecting is a common human behavior, hoarders take collecting to an extreme. Collectors are able to pare down their collections to the most valuable or most beloved items while hoarders experience major distress and anxiety when asked to part with even a single item. Collectors tend to focus on one or a few categories while hoarders tend to hang onto a wide variety of items. Collectors tend to choose a specific room or part of a room to display the collection while hoarders generally cover every available space with an unorganized pile of “stuff.”
Having a real phobia of throwing things out is very different from someone who might just be classified as a “pack rat.” Phobias can have debilitating effects on sufferers and can interfere with their ability to complete daily activities.
Facing the object of fear causes extreme anxiety and even panic. With hoarding, the object of fear is the act of throwing things away. Although not classified as a phobia, hoarding treatments, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, can be highly effective in helping hoarders work through the fearful thoughts and learn more appropriate behaviors.