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Comment by alex_lav | Hacker News Reader

I’ve become somewhat of an opposite-hoarder over the last few years. In 2015 I threw away most of my things during a move across country, keeping only sentimental/irreplaceable things in an effort to “upgrade” the more utility focused items I owned for the new living situation. Then 3 months later I lost literally all of my possessions as a result of a freak accident. Since then I’ve found it really hard to approach physical possessions with any amount of commitment or feelings of permanence - everything feels extremely temporary. I throw things out all the time, sometimes very impulsively, sometimes to almost immediately regret it.

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> And people who buy less and consume less show less depressive symptoms, so there’s a positive mental health effect.”

My ex was a hoarder. Not as bas as you see on TV, but I wasn’t allowed to throw away “stuff” of which hadn’t been used for years, so the garage became a tad scary. My ex took everything and I started fresh. I haven’t felt this good in 20 years with so little “stuff” in my house.

“Stuff” is truly mentally taxing if not overwhelming for me, personally.

> > > And people who buy less and consume less show less depressive symptoms, so there’s a positive mental health effect.”

Eh. For me personally I think there's probably some equally depressive behavior going on, as the reverse-hoarding is a result of specific trauma. But in general I agree that consumerism brings on depression.

Amazingly, there's also a term for that disorder, too. Compulsive decluttering.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/ocd-obses...

I think this was front page on here a while back.

Is it a disorder if there’s no downside? Sometimes I think people just name observations and call them disorders.

>Is it a disorder if there’s no downside?

Well, no. But it can get to situations where the declutterer does not have a pen but needs a pen, so they buy one, and then throw it away. But when they next need a pen...

Or situations where they harm their interpersonal relationships, by throwing out other people's treasures/belongings or not having enough furniture to host them, etc.

If you’re getting rid of things compulsively and it’s causing you anxiety/stress/shame, yes. The disordered behavior is how it impacts your mental health, not how others observe the validity of the behavior.

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