Is This Worth Keeping? Hoarding Disorder Questions to Ask

According to the American Psychiatric Association, approximately 2.6% of Americans have a hoarding disorder. If you fit those statistics, you don’t have to be told how hoarding can overwhelm your physical space, eat away at your self-esteem, and be detrimental to your health.

It’s natural to want to hang onto mementos of the past. But holding onto too much can have a negative impact on you and your household. Most everyone has a special toy or trinket from their childhood. Or maybe they have a family heirloom that’s been passed down from generation to generation.

These sentimental items hold a value that can’t be explained in dollars and cents. But for people who have a hoarding disorder, determining whether an item qualifies as sentimental is difficult, and the criteria by which they make that decision are broad and ambiguous.

Determining whether something has monetary value or is useful in your life can also be clouded by murky thoughts and abstract ideas. You may believe that something is useful or valuable, but have you challenged those intrinsic opinions?

If you have hoarding tendencies, it’s important to create a specific and well-defined criterion as to what types of items you would consider sentimentally or monetarily valuable or even useful. Without a concrete structure, you may find that you are holding onto things that are unnecessary just because you feel a false sense of sentiment about them.

Hoarding Disorder: Questions to Ask

So, how do you know what items to hold onto and what items to get rid of when a hoarding disorder clouds your judgment? Here are a few questions you can ask yourself about each item you want to hold onto. These hoarding disorder questions will help you determine what types of things you should hold onto and what you should let go of.

Does this item bring me joy or sadness?

The idea of determining if an item brings you joy or sadness has been a popular method for dealing with material possessions in recent years. And while it may seem like a gimmick, there is a lot of value to this exercise if you are honest with yourself while answering.

To determine if an item truly brings you joy, rely on your first instinct when you see the item. Did you smile and get excited, or did you think about a negative experience? Or maybe you didn’t feel emotion at all. If an item brings you a negative or neutral feeling, it is an indication that you’re not positively attached to the item and should consider letting it go.

Is it useful in my current life?

Maybe you’ve held onto items for the future. You tell yourself that you will have time to use them when the kids move out or you lose weight. Or maybe you think that you may need that DVD collection for a different stage in your life, like when you travel in an RV.

But the harsh reality is that not all of our future dreams are meant to happen. And let’s be real – how many how often do we actually use these things that we’ve held onto? And can we find them when it comes time to use them?

Holding onto that doll collection so you can have a museum one day may sound like a great idea, but if you have no concrete strategy to implement your plan, you may be holding onto the items unnecessarily. Holding onto the items alone will not make that dream into reality, though sometimes our brains like to trick us into believing that it will.

Some items are meant to serve you for a season, and when that season concludes, it’s wise to pass them along to other people who could use them. It might be tempting to keep every onesie and tiny little sock, but no amount of baby clothes will bring back those days of midnight cuddles and crayon masterpieces on your freshly painted walls.

While it would be nice if these possessions could double as a time machine, they won’t. Let go of the items so they can serve another child.

Does it have monetary value?

Some people hold onto items because they consider them to be good financial investments. While it’s true that some collectible items can fetch a fairly good amount at auction or a sale, most hoarded items are not worth nearly as much as their owners believe them to be.

It’s time to take a realistic look at the monetary value of your most prized possessions. If they truly are worth a reasonable amount of money, consider selling them now. But if an item is worth less than ten dollars, ask yourself if it’s really worth trying to sell it.

By the time you clean it, research the value, photograph it, write a description, set a price, and post it, are you getting a reasonable return on the item, even if it sells for its asking price? It may be wiser to donate the item instead.

And hanging on to a collectible longer doesn’t guarantee a larger return. Unlike more stable investments such as real estate or money management plans such as high-yield savings accounts, the collectible market is volatile. What may be worth a good amount of money today may not be worth more or even equal to its present value in the future.

Collectibles are only as valuable as what someone will pay for them. Items may decline in value as consumer interest dwindles, the items become damaged, or the economy dips. Don’t hold onto something just because you think that its value will increase with time.

Do I have a safe place to store it?

What’s the point of keeping something if you have no place to store it? Don’t hold onto items that are large, bulky, and difficult to store. Automobiles, furniture, and large clothing items should not be kept if you have no place to safely store them. Honor your items by displaying the ones that mean the most and letting go of everything else. You can be just as sentimental about a small piece of jewelry as you are about your first car.

Will I have someone to pass it on to?

Just because you find value in an item doesn’t mean your children or family have the same attachment. Don’t hang onto an item just because you want to hand it down to the next generation. If that child or person you intend to gift it to doesn’t value it in the same way or at the same level that you do, it may become a burden to them rather than a blessing.

So, ask for honest input on the types of items those who will inherit them value. And if they don’t share your love for something, don’t feel offended or allow that to be a stumbling block in your relationship. Know that their rejection of your items is not a reflection of their feelings or connection to you.

Does it hold sentimental value for me or the person who gave it to me?

Sometimes people hold onto items that were once sentimental to someone they care about, but that they don’t feel connected to in the same way. This obligation to gatekeep sentimental items for another person can become a burden. If you don’t feel sentimental about a particular item, you are not under an obligation to keep it.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21, NIV

Next Steps

Whenever you feel the urge to hang onto an item, especially if it doesn’t serve your present needs, consider this Scripture. Material possessions are temporary, but spiritual wealth is eternal. If you need someone to walk alongside you as you overcome your hoarding disorder, schedule a session with a Christian mental health specialist who can help give you practical advice and help you get to the underlying issue that may be contributing to your desire to hoard.