What Exactly Is Collecting Rage?

You have probably heard of Diogenes syndrome. People with this condition are characterized by social isolation, confinement in their home, and self-neglect. It turns out that collecting rage can actually be confused with Diogenes syndrome. 

However, it is not the same. The main difference is that people with Diogenes syndrome do more than collect useless items. They also collect trash and trash and their self-neglect is extreme.

A person with a passion for collecting has difficulty throwing away or losing their possessions. The real value of these possessions does not matter. They may be objects of little financial or sentimental value.

Problems with throwing things away can be evident in multiple situations such as when you are trying to sell, throw away, give away or recycle them. It is claimed that the reason behind this is the  aesthetic value or usefulness of the objects. It can also be a sentimental attachment or a ‘what if?’ situation. or ‘in case’.

These people buy a new computer, but don’t throw the old one away, in case the new one breaks. With the next update they will still keep the previous models in case the two new ones break and so on…

Some people feel responsible for where their things end up. They often do everything they can to avoid throwing money down the drain. In addition, hoarders are often afraid of losing important information.

How is collecting anger determined?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) lists a set of diagnostic criteria for collecting anger:

A. Persistent problems throwing or giving things away, regardless of their real value.

B. These problems are due to a perceived need to preserve things. and the discomfort you feel when they are thrown away.

C. The difficulty of throwing objects gives way to collecting things. These occupy the habitable spaces and greatly alter their intended use. If their houses are clean, it is only through an outside intervention (e.g. relatives, cleaners, authorities).

D. Hoarding causes significant clinical discomfort or harms the individual’s life. This includes their social life, work and maintaining a safe environment for themselves and others.

E. No other medical condition can explain this (eg brain injury, stroke, Prader-Willi syndrome).

F. The hoarding is not due to symptoms of another mental disorder. For example, obsessive-compulsive disorder, decreased energy in major depressive disorder, delusional thinking in schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, a cognitive deficit in major neurocognitive disorders, lack of interest in autism spectrum disorders, etc.

A house full of useless things

The items people usually hoard are newspapers, magazines, old clothes, bags, books, equipment, and paperwork… You can keep practically anything. It’s not just things that most people would describe as useless or worthless. Many people collect and store very valuable things. These things can often be found with other objects of less value.

People with a passion for collecting voluntarily pile up their possessions. They are upset when they think they should throw it away. So the hoarding and piling up are intentional.

This characteristic distinguishes hoarding from other types of psychological disorders. Other disorders include the passive accumulation of objects or the absence of fear when someone throws it away. That is the difference.

People who collect a lot of stuff stuff their houses and pile up a lot of stuff. This makes it difficult for them to live. For example, they cannot cook in the kitchen, sleep on their bed, or sit on a chair in the living room.

Difficulty using certain living areas

When living spaces are already usable, it is usually very difficult to do so. The mess usually consists of a large number of objects that usually have nothing to do with each other. They may also be slightly related. Hence, they are piled on top of each other in disorderly fashion in places intended for other purposes.

As we have seen in the diagnostic criteria, point C affects the active living areas in the house . Instead of on the edge places such as the garage, attic or basement. These spaces can also be disorganized in the homes of people who don’t suffer from a passion for collecting.

Hoarders often own things that occupy their active habitats. These can interfere with the use of other spaces, such as their vehicles, workplaces, or the homes of friends or relatives .

In some cases, living spaces may not seem cluttered because family members, professional cleaners or local authorities have intervened. However, in this case, people may still experience symptoms that meet the diagnostic criteria because they were not the cause of the cleaning.

Collecting rage is different from normal collecting behavior, which has a certain systematic organization. Collectors don’t mess around and aren’t upset if they lose it.

As you’ve seen, collecting craze consists of collecting items that may or may not be useful. The severity of the condition increases over time and often becomes chronic . Especially when there is no intervention.