Sep 11, 2026 · 6 min · 6 segments
What's the difference between hoarding and OCD? Imagine two people who both refuse to throw away the same old birthday card. One keeps it because it holds a memory they’re afraid of losing. The other…
Patrick McGrathHost
This is a term for a group of mental health conditions that feature unwanted thoughts, could be a ton of ego dystonic issues or worries, repetitive physical or mental acts.
And when I say ego dystonic, I mean things that kind of maybe go against your values or what you truly believe.
People with hoarding disorder usually hold on to possessions because they believe they're valuable or they have meaning.
They might think that if they get rid of it, they'll lose the memory associated with it.
being asked to discard a possession is very upsetting to somebody with hoarding because well they genuinely want to keep it there's a emotional attachment to the item or because these objects relate to some sort of maybe safety identity comfort something like that you know someone could say I know that newspaper is 20 years old, but what if one day somebody brings up something that's in an article in that newspaper? I'll be able to grab it.
It might take a few weeks, but I'll be able to grab it and show them exactly what the article said.
There's something about having the physical thing there for people with hoarding.
Now, what about an obsessive compulsive disorder? In OCD, maybe keeping or acquiring things is driven by this really intensive fear of not necessarily having to keep the items because they're valued or wanted.
It could be more that if I get rid of it, something terrible could happen, right? So there could be very specific rules or rituals assigned to it along the idea that if I throw away this birthday card, something terrible could happen to the person who gave it to me.
And therefore, I have to hold on to it to make sure nothing bad happens to them.
You can see a slight difference there, right? The person with hoarding is holding on to the card because of the memory associated with it.
The person with OCD is holding on to the card really due to the fear of what if something bad were to happen if I were to get rid of Now, that can be, again, a fine line.
And this is where having a specialist come in and really work with you to define what's going on in this situation is the best thing to do.
This is a term for a group of mental health conditions that feature unwanted thoughts, could be a ton of ego dystonic issues or worries, repetitive physical or mental acts.
And when I say ego dystonic, I mean things that kind of maybe go against your values or what you truly believe.
People with hoarding disorder usually hold on to possessions because they believe they're valuable or they have meaning.
They might think that if they get rid of it, they'll lose the memory associated with it.
being asked to discard a possession is very upsetting to somebody with hoarding because well they genuinely want to keep it there's a emotional attachment to the item or because these objects relate to some sort of maybe safety identity comfort something like that you know someone could say I know that newspaper is 20 years old, but what if one day somebody brings up something that's in an article in that newspaper? I'll be able to grab it.
It might take a few weeks, but I'll be able to grab it and show them exactly what the article said.
There's something about having the physical thing there for people with hoarding.
Now, what about an obsessive compulsive disorder? In OCD, maybe keeping or acquiring things is driven by this really intensive fear of not necessarily having to keep the items because they're valued or wanted.
It could be more that if I get rid of it, something terrible could happen, right? So there could be very specific rules or rituals assigned to it along the idea that if I throw away this birthday card, something terrible could happen to the person who gave it to me.
And therefore, I have to hold on to it to make sure nothing bad happens to them.
You can see a slight difference there, right? The person with hoarding is holding on to the card because of the memory associated with it.
The person with OCD is holding on to the card really due to the fear of what if something bad were to happen if I were to get rid of Now, that can be, again, a fine line.
And this is where having a specialist come in and really work with you to define what's going on in this situation is the best thing to do.
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