How can I stop being a hoarder?

Hoarding is often brought on by an underlying issue, first you should deal with this issue by seeking professional help before you can tackle the hoarding

Honestly, I don't know if there is a simple answer that you are going to like. I hoard a lot (I have OCD) and the only thing I can do is just throw it away. I will stand with my mom or a friend and they will tell me to throw it away and be very assertive and I try to say no but eventually give in. I am sorry if this isn't much help but honestly you just have to throw it away not matter how uncomfortable it is.

You cannot stop a behavior until you know the extent of it. Begin by taking an inventory of every object you posses and writing it down. This may take more than a day. Then, take realistic, manageable steps to eliminating the hoard. Commit to removing one or a few objects every day without replacing them. Be sure to cross them off your list so you can see your progress.

Handle objects only once. Scale down collections. Put it in a box. If you cannot decide to toss or keep an item, put it in a box for 6 months. If you don't open the box before then, you can let it go without regret. This is a great idea for people who hoard items like magazines, travel toiletries and newspaper clippings.Toss un-used items.

I'd say before you buy/keep something ask yourself do I REALLY REALLY REALLY need this. And if you keep it and later on you notice you've never used it since the day you decided to keep it, give/throw it away. That's what I did and I'm definitely not hoarding as much as I used to.

First of all, seek professional help. That's always a good start when you're tackling something challenging for you. Therapy can help you figure out what you're hoarding and why you do it. If you can figure out the reason for it, you'll have a better idea of how to tackle the problem. Some people hoard things for sentimental reasons (as in they can't bear to throw things away because of the memories attached to said things). Often this kind of issue is approached slowly, and the hoarder can gradually learn to rationalize that throwing things away doesn't mean you're throwing away the associated memories. Other people hoard for utility (as in they can't bear to throw things away because they might be useful later.) This is often remedied by showing the hoarder that waiting on the future utility of an item is making life difficult in the present, and that even if something could be useful in the future, it is useless clutter in the present, and the future in which it may be useful may never arrive. The key is figuring out a hoarder's specific compunction about throwing things away and addressing the core issue in that. Hoarding is a behavior, and it won't simply be solved by throwing everything away. Learning how to change the behavior is what's most important in the long run.

At some point you have to think about all the stuff you forget you have. I mean, as a hoarder, you have a LOT of stuff. Think about the stuff you either forgot you have or you haven't needed in the past 6 months or a year. If you haven't seen it in a year, chances are it's not important to you right? I mean, would your life really be different if you didn't have that item? What if you could turn that item into cash? And that cash into something else you REALLY want? Aim for that! Use the assets you have to get the other things you want. It'll be better for you to get the things you really want and it'll be great for the person who you end up selling it to because they will be getting something they want too.

Refrain from compulsive buying. Make a list before shopping and stick with it. Regularly sift through your stuff and donate/sell/get rid of things you don't use or need. Repeat.

Hoarding typically is based in an underlying emotional struggle. It may help to examine your feelings, ask yourself "What do I feel? Why do I feel this way? And, how has hoarding things helped me feel better?" Hoarding typically helps people feel better in some way, even though it makes life difficult in other ways. By finding how hoarding helps you, you can begin to find and try to use healthier coping methods to care for yourself and address your emotions in ways that don't involve hoarding (you may find DBT helpful, as well as ACT or CBT). Depending on how hoarding is impacting your life, you may benefit form professional support as well.

Hoarding is the compulsive purchasing, acquiring, searching, and saving of items that have little or no value. The behavior usually has deleterious effects—emotional, physical, social, financial, and even legal—for a hoarder and family members. Start slow, choose 1 or 2 samples from your collection and keep the rest in a box and don't look at it for 6 months.Then you can let go of it without regret. Seek professional help if necessary