Hoarding

[Meer]

Do you hoard things? Do you have massive piles of junk that you once thought might be useful for something someday?

I'd like to hear about what's in your mountain of stuff in the basement (or whatever) and maybe see some pictures.

 

[tastillings]

haha definitely. I always hoard stupid things like chapstick, useless bits of paper, bottles, and just miscellaneous crap really. Most of it I have some grand plan for but some of it is just because...

 

[Noise]

I have dozens of notebooks filled with writing of my past days. They have proved useful though. As I have a terrible memory I can look to them for reference to a wild thought that I fancy remembering. I date the pages with notes just to see how far I have gone.

It's always nice to go back to the past and dwell on the good old days.

 

[Jah]

past notebooks and sketchbooks.
but I'm getting better at not hoarding.

 

[Somnium]

I hoard a LOT. Stuff I wrote as a child, papers that I haven't completely used up, doodles, notebooks, books I never read anymore, books I never will read, trinkets... the list goes on. The only reason I threw away a lot of them was because my mom was annoyed with my mess and made me dispose of most of it. Man, cleaning day was hell, the floor was completely covered with piled paper and shit from many years of hoarding. Like you guys, I always felt that "someday I may need it so I better not throw it away".

Never knew it was a INTP trait, but thinking about it it does make sense. It is pretty much another form of our common trait of being indecisive and always keeping options open, "in case".

 

[Namesmith]

Never knew it was a INTP trait, but thinking about it it does make sense. It is pretty much another form of our common trait of being indecisive and always keeping options open, "in case".

Well, that's the question: Is Hoarding an INTP trait? Is it an ENTP trait, too? What about INTJs?

I really want to know, because I'm a hoarder, too. I've seen the hoarding TV show; those people are 9s or 10s on the scale. I'm a 5 to 6. I'd be thrilled to get to a 3.

One thing I've noticed about the show is how strong a sense of denial they have, that there is a problem at all. OTOH, I've always known this to be a problem, even before I knew the word for it. I should clarify that I always thought of myself as disorganized, sloppy, or cluttered, but I hadn't seen it as, say, a pathological problem. So I ask the other INTP hoarders, were you ever unaware of the issue, or have you always been clearheaded about it?

 

[MissQuote]

I recently threw away over 50% of our belongings.

50% of an entire house worth of stuff.

It was awesome, it is awesome. You guys should do it too.

 

[SOLROCK]

When I was younger I had the interesting habit of hiding important things "to keep them safe". Eventually that wore off and now i just tend to hold on to things for ever. I have a stack of papers dating from the second grade in my closet.

 

[nanook]

i certainly keep my creative output. some drawings from before i went digital. diary too. all my models (starships, planes, cars) are in my parents home.

apart from that no, i like to have as little as possible.
my mala, electronic gadgets, pc, handfull of books, bike, kitchen stuff, a sewing machine, verry few clothing. own paintings on the wall.

nevertheless i allways find myself sitting in a huge pile of stuff, cans, bottles, dishes, toilet paper rolls, money, pills on the table, clothing, bags and month old amazon packages and more bottles on the floor.

 

[Crazythinker1]

I do like to keep things around for a little while, thinking perhaps that one day it would be useful. But I never really had to much of a problem with keeping stuff forever, my mother would not let me. But some things, such as my notebooks and my books I can't bear the thought of getting rid of.

 

[snafupants]

My room is a veritable stockpile of clothes, test kits, books, audio equipment, instruments and artwork. A tour guide is essentially a necessity to successfully navigating the labyrinth. Sidling and hopping may perhaps ensue, and coming out emotionally undamaged isn't promised.

 

[Namesmith]

I recently threw away over 50% of our belongings.

50% of an entire house worth of stuff.

It was awesome, it is awesome. You guys should do it too.

If I could do so, Miss, it wouldn't be a problem. A lot of it is books. I can't throw books away.

 

[Peripheral Visionary]

I am not a hoarder of material things, but I know an INTP who is. I helped him move once, and he had boxes of CD's that he'd bought but never opened. Some were duplicates of CD's he already owned, but forgot he had. He also buys cars, then parks them on his family's farm. He's like a crazy cat lady, except with automobiles. And of course there are books, piles of them lying around like paper stalagmites.

I should mention the whole family has hoarding tenancies, except for the youngest brother--who is an ENTP. He says that his brother and I are hoarders of knowledge. He says we sit on information and don't communicate unless it's to correct an inaccuracy.

 

[LTVX]

I don't think I've heard read about digital hoarding but my hard drive is loaded with movies/tv shows/ebooks/music/applications etc. I dislike deleting any of it only if really necessary.

 

[nedenom]

I hoard internet porn, does that count?

I think I have tendencies to go like: this piece of plastic may come in handy so I'll keep it, but generally I have few things around me. I don't buy stuff I don't need. And I don't like the thought of being held back by material things, just in case I want to leave, or just to keep that option open really.

 

[omegatripod]

Yeah, I get messy to a point, but every once in a while I do that obsessive cleaning thing and everything's fine.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I don't buy things much, so it doesn't collect that quickly, but I do see potential use in everything and have trouble throwing things away.