Can hoarding also be caused by loneliness O: ?

[BunnyNumber8]

Ah loneliness always makes me ask certain questions, one that has been on my mind for awhile is : while hoarding is thought to be a result of people having compulsive disorders, what about lonely people O: ?

But I'm not talking about the massive, over the top uncontrolable type ^^ more like....um....well people who tend to collect and buy stuff to fill in the void in their life o.o; .....thats how my best friend describes it lol.

Yay I went to my best friends house 2 weeks ago and I noticed that for each visit, the junk in her room kept piling up....what I mean by junk is trinkets you know, things that we don't necessarly need but keep or collect. Her room is filled with : plushies, stationnery, little boxes, toys, candy, figurines, notebooks, my drawings, jewelry, candles, old balloons, birthday and x-mas cards and ect...

I asked her why she never threw anything away ( she still has the origami cranes I folded for her 4 years ago X__X ) and why she keeps buying stuff like that, she litterarly told me it made her happy and filled up w/e void she had inside of her.....

but material belongings only give us short term satisfaction ....we always need new stuff to be happier....but until when ;...I swear even her bed is filled with stuff idk how she sleeps, theres barely any room to walk, I always feel like I suffocate in there....

Then I looked into my own room and realised I was not any better, perharps because mine is bigger and my junk is more organised I did not see it at 1st lol...but lately...I've been missing space....and pondered to buy new furniture to which my mom reacted and said : '' you got enough space honey just get rid of all that useless junk you keep '' I'm like what useless junk O_O....goes into room and scans '' oh..right...oh boy... ''

OH man I need to post pics of my room but why not my desk for a quick example XD

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j320/Ninimew/Picture035.jpg

Alright that pic is from early september 2010, see that empty space on my desk, well now it's filled with even more junk O_O !!!!

And all the furniture with available space in my room is filled with stuff like that : anime figurines, cute stationnery lol, candles, magazines, note pads, mangas, small plushies....just really random junk ..you should see my keychain collection too :/ , I also have tons of books and posters and pics on my walls and it just keeps growing.

I realised that I feel better when I'm surrounded with things ..especially if it is things that I like or connected to games, books or shows I enjoy......the last thing I purchased was a figurine of a shyguy from the mario games...I mean I don't necessarly need it but it made me happy, now it just sits on my desk along with other things lol....see what I mean :/

So do you guys do that ? Collect things compulsively X___x..... and how much is reasonnable enough o.o;

I think lonely people do that cause they need something to hold on to when they have nobody, like a lonely grown man that collects comic books :/ ( lmao I had that flash of the comic book guy from simpsons XD )​

And sorry for the blurry pic, enjoy laughing on my random junk XD lmao

 

[Broken_Doll]

I think that it can be in part to do with lonliness.

I collect Hasbro's My Little Ponies, when I'm bored, lonely or depressed I buy a Pony or some other useless item. I guess you could call the way I shop when I feel depressed 'compulsive', and in some ways it does help to fill that nothingness inside.

 

[Mr. Sir]

Yes. Filling a void.

 

[BunnyNumber8]

glad I'm not alone then o.o;

 

[evanescencefan91]

nothing brings us permenant satisifaction

 

[Bluebird]

I believe it can. Like SocratesX said, it's filling a void. Sometimes people can't part with things because the memories attached to them bring them happiness, or because they have the belief that if they part with something, they won't be able to use it to create new memories (or something to that effect). Also, sometimes when a person is sad or depressed, the act of purchasing or gaining something new distracts them from those feelings and makes them feel better. If they're sad a lot, it could pile up.

 

[BunnyNumber8]

oh man I love you lol, that's pretty much what I wanted to explain. We give life to objects when we link them to certain memories, most of the time they're happy and yes buying new items does distract us from whatever pain we are feeling....like purchasing ice cream or chocolate when feeling sad about a breakup lmao.....food can be considered as a short term happiness in a cup..or a bowl or w/e lol ...I abuse tea :/ ...and the sadder you are the more you take in and then bad things happen -_-; like getting fat, using too much money ect...

It's like my mom, when she feels depressed she just roams around the house and starts complaining about how old everything is and she wants to buy this and that, to make changes....how is new furniture we can't even afford supposed to make you feel better sheesh honestly...if we were rich I'd stay fine, do what you want it won't make you any happier but we can afford it......alas we are not rich so she just makes our debts go higher <<;;; *stabs*

 

[Nightwatcher]

Like previous posters said, loneliness can cause hoarding. I now from first hand experience. The thing with hoarders is that they tend to gather objects that despite being worn out or broken aside from just gathering objects as such. I remember myself since i have a tendency to do so for instance i had a desk-writer despite it being broken in my room for about a year before i got rid of it.
I think it works as Bluebird mentioned that some people associate stuff with feelings instead of associating stuff with being just stuff it becomes something very emotional or in some cases nearly a person perhaps because of the way they obtained it. Now i realized that some of what i just wrote may have touched the obsessive compulsive side of it. But i believe the principal is pretty much the same.