soraya Report post Posted March 31, 2008 My Nick who is 14 will not throw anything away, when we went to the cinema at the weekend he had to bring home his empty popcorn carton and drinks bottle, when we go to mcdonalds he has to bring come the burger container!! it gets quite embarrasing for him as l know he feels odd doing it. Does anyone else have this problem? Someone said it sounds more like OCD, so l would be really interested in your replies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScienceGeek Report post Posted March 31, 2008 My girlfriend has OCD and she used to be the same way. She has managed to move on from that but still finds it hard to throw anything away, just not to that extent anymore. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KateBall Report post Posted March 31, 2008 Oh yes yes yes. We were clearing out my son's bedroom last week and found lots of old containers. I didn't realise it was quite a problem until then. I knew he didn't like to throw things but thought he was. He keeps drink containers, cake boxes, plastic containers which had sandwiches or cakes or whatever, polystyrene stuff used for packing in boxes, drink cans etc etc. He says "reduce reuse recycle" and I think there is so much pressure on not throwing out rubbish that perhaps he's taken it too literally. So we are keeping an eye on him now and making sure he will co-operate with us in putting things out for recycling. Not sure how it will go. I hope it is not ocd although wouldn't be surprised if it were as he is a bit funny about washing his hands, keeping clean etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxgirl Report post Posted March 31, 2008 Soraya, this has been an enormous problem for us also. My lad is 14 too. For years 95% of his floor was covered with 'stuff', all lined up and set out and stood up carefully, leaving just a tiny area to tip-toe through. He would keep everything, any old bit of plastic tat that came free with a magazine would be added to the display and carefully aligned and it got ridiculous, we couldn't even move in his room or open drawers without things going flying. It got to be a serious problem when he couldn't settle in bed without continually getting out to touch and check everything to make sure it was all there and in it's correct place, he would spend about an hour a night doing it. His drawers were stuffed full of things he hadn't touched for over ten years but he would become hysterical at the thought of getting rid of anything, we were slowly drowning in his 'stuff'. The turning point for us came in November, when it was his birthday. We had decided to get a fish tank for his room as his present and in order to accomodate the new tank we had to have a major overhall of his room. We spent weeks sorting through his drawers, getting rid of things on Ebay, charity shopts, loft, etc. and getting rid of bits of furniture, getting new furniture and generally totally reoranizing his room for this fish tank. Since then he's been fine with it and hasn't had half the problems he did with hoarding as before, he seems to have moved on from it. I think it became a habit really, he could see all the stuff over the floor and so couldn't bear to part with a single thing, but now it's all gone it's like a weight has been lifted off him and he doesn't need to bother about it any more, it's just gone. Wish you luck with it. Maybe you could agree with your lad to reorganize his room, buy a new fancy piece of furniture and get him to agree that a compromise would be for him to let go of some of his things. I know it's really hard to get over the first hurdle, though. ~ Mel ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harmony Report post Posted March 31, 2008 My Nick who is 14 will not throw anything away, when we went to the cinema at the weekend he had to bring home his empty popcorn carton and drinks bottle, when we go to mcdonalds he has to bring come the burger container!! it gets quite embarrasing for him as l know he feels odd doing it. Does anyone else have this problem? Someone said it sounds more like OCD, so l would be really interested in your replies I think you have solved a problem for me. My daughter 12 withh AS and ADHD, always has mountains of stuff in her room, I get mad chuck it out, she gets hysterical, and replaces it with more 'rubbish' I thought she was just being an hormonal messy girl, but actually I think it is more a case of needing to keep things. 10 empty bags of crisps in her wardrobe. plastic containers everywhere, bits of ribbon and thread, the list is endless. I think I will be a bit easier on her, and just watch to see if a pattern emerges......very intersting... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soraya Report post Posted March 31, 2008 Well isnt it interesting, already had lots of replies this is quite a problem for our poor kids. I will go down the recycling route as l think Nick could be pursuaded to let go of things if they were being made into something else!! fingers crossed, wish me luck!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KateBall Report post Posted March 31, 2008 It got to be a serious problem when he couldn't settle in bed without continually getting out to touch and check everything to make sure it was all there ~ Mel ~ My ds does this too - and he picks things up kisses them and puts them back again Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clare63 Report post Posted March 31, 2008 There was a thread on this before and it was really interesting, my son too hates anything thrown away and he says it has a memory attached to it ! Maybe someone (unlike me, who knows how) will put up at link to that thread, I seem to remember it gave a lot of useful insight. Clare x x x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxgirl Report post Posted April 1, 2008 I think you have solved a problem for me. My daughter 12 withh AS and ADHD, always has mountains of stuff in her room, I get mad chuck it out, she gets hysterical, and replaces it with more 'rubbish' I thought she was just being an hormonal messy girl, but actually I think it is more a case of needing to keep things. 10 empty bags of crisps in her wardrobe. plastic containers everywhere, bits of ribbon and thread, the list is endless. I think I will be a bit easier on her, and just watch to see if a pattern emerges......very intersting... Yes, I think it's a comfort thing, it made my lad feel secure to have all his 'things' to hand and surrounding him, like a security blanket. The thought of letting go of even the most useless piece of plastic tat was enough to turn him white. He couldn't really explain it, though, he just said that all the things were 'nice'. I did feel quite mean really when it came to making him let it go, but it really did have to be done and he's so much better off without all that baggage now. Good luck Soraya. ~ Mel ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sarahponari Report post Posted April 1, 2008 i was and still am to some extent like this, i never like to throw things away, but now im not quite as bad because i know if i dont throw some of the things i really really dont need, then hubby will just get everything that he thinks would be rubbish and throw it away, so i have some sort of control over it now(if he wasnt around though my house would be full of all sorts as i wouldnt want to throw anything away) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kirstie Report post Posted April 1, 2008 Oh yes, we have this problem here!! My sons room is horrendous. All of the silly toys from McD's and the wrappers, crisp packets, bits of broken toys the lot! You should see his bed!!! I have no idea how he gets to sleep at night- all of his toys and bits are on there. For L it started when we used to go to Nursery. He HAD to pick up stones from the same place every day, put them in his buggy and sit on them he wouldn't so much as give them a second look once he's collected them but hell mend me if i took them out and tried to throw them away with him watching!! I am in the middle of a huge clear out of the bedroom and believe me its a mammoth task, but he goes to his Dad during the school holidays so i can do it without toys and rubbish being pulled back out of bags and being obsessed about all over again! I never saw it as an ocd type thing though, just an untidy boy who has trouble throwing things away and letting go. Hmm might try the recycle thing with him too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lynyona Report post Posted April 1, 2008 Kieran never ever throws anything away he use to buy the celebrity magazines hello ok and all that sort of stuff and he s still got them all stacked in his cupboard from heavens knows how many years.He also has a tendancy to buy things and use them once and also in the cupboard they go but again wont part with anything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marnie Report post Posted April 2, 2008 My son is 13 and is the same has been for years. He never wants to throw anything away and does have displays of things here there and everywhere. My living room slowly gets taken over with stuff he keeps going up to his room and "finding" he gets it all out, brings it down and leaves it there. With his Wii games they are all stacked in the order he got them. When I called in the psychology people I was concerned his behaviour was OCD. They diagnosed Aspergers. I'm a bit of a hoarder myself and theres only the two of us in the house since my divorce and it does get me down. We are hoping to move this year so I'm hopeful we can get some stuff gone then. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
