The psychologists tend to think all hoarders have been triggered by some traumatic emotional event in their lives and are filling their homes with stuff to fill the void of not having loving relationships. While that may be true I believe that there are different reasons for different people. Some develop it while married and have a family. One woman in Tulsa was a shopaholic and lived in a mansion. She bought so many clothes and household items that she ran out of storage space and had the items piled up in the living areas. Most of her stuff was brand new and with tags still attached. Her husband divorced her over it. Some start collecting cats or other animals and end of being animal hoarders and then collecting stuff and then not discarding their trash or garbage, things build up and breakdowns of bathroom plumbing & appliances worsen it. I have had hoarder neighbors, one was a neat hoarder who’s hobby after she became a widow was frequenting garage and estate sales. She thought she could turn a profit but as time went on she was too tired and eventually got Alzheimer’s. My neighbor spent about 3 months organizing an estate sale for her son & it was amazing how many things she kept finding after she went through the house....a large shed stuffed to the top, the attic and garage too.
