There’s a difference between compulsive accumulation, and hoarding. (People with hoarding disorder often, but not always, suffer from both)
If you can easily dispose of the items, the issue isn’t hoarding.
Yes, hoarding behaviors can look different. There are scrupulously neat,clean and tidy hoarders, organised hoarders, storage unit hoarders with normal homes but pouring all the family finances into keeping stuff, as well as the stereotypical hoarding situations most of us see as hoarding.
The two truly defining bits of actual hoarding (rather than the appearance) of hoarding, are:
- being so deeply attached to large quantities of items as to cause serious damage when trying to get rid of them even when the person wants too.
2)The situation causing serious harm/damage to the individual’s relationships, ability to live, finances etc.
Doesn’t matter if it's clean or dirty, messy or tidy, filling up the home, or packed away in a storage unit. It's about both things above at the same time.
So if you’re rich, or have a large enough home, it’s possible to have a hoarding condition without it being a problem. If you have less money, or a small home, it’s going to become a problem.
Emotional attached to some stuff is normal. Most of us can let things go even if it’s upsetting, if they’re going to cause major problems in our lives, because we value our children, pets and relationships, homes, ability to move freely, or find things, more than the items we’re attached to.
When that get’s out balance, a loving parent can start doing things like not seeing that keeping all their child’s old toys/ clothes/ furniture etc, because they remind of the happiness of their early years, is actually now stopping the same child from being able to develop and play in their middle years.
Or buying things for lives we don’t live, and keeping them unused, instead of developing the lives we’d like to have.
IE the woman who can’t move for beautiful clothes they never wear because they've nowhere to wear them or feel they're wasted on them, or keeping for 'later' by ageing owners.
Or the collecting of large amounts of wool, material, art stuff, etc, but never making anything or using them because they don’t want to ruin them.
Most of us do small bits of this sort of stuff, which isn’t an issue as long as it doesn’t get out of control, for others it takes over homes, finances and lives.
You're on the right track, questioning why and if you need the amount of things, but sometimes what we accumulate indicates how we'd like to be living, so worth thinking about that as well.
You sound like someone collecting against future need - not an issue within reason, and if you can out it after use, (where many come unstuck) and accumulating for the life you want to be leading - a more creative one?