I think i might be a "pack rat" or have obsessive hoarding

Question

i was cleaning out my trapper keeper and just looking through for stuff i may have forgotten and eventually though away the keeper.

but as i was cleaning though it, i find it emotionally hard to let go. 8th grade was one of my best years and the last time i saw my best friends.

i unfortunately already threw the stuff away, but still got my 'book of shadows' which my friends signed, but im worried i might become more of a "pack rat" as time passes by

so im question is, how can i keep from becoming more of a packrat?

Answer 1

Sometimes keeping 1 particular item from a good time in your life can be very therapeudic.  But pick only 1 item (maybe 1 for any "special" memory) and put it somewhere different from all the other junk. If it is something that holds no meaning except you were there - toss it, you won't miss it.  If I don't use or look at something within a year I throw it out.

Answer 2

i think I'm in the same situation asking myself the same question.

Answer 3

I work in mental health....you are just fine and normal.  You did a healthy thing.  You kept one thing that was very special. It's unrealistic to keep everything.  It causes even more anxiety to let things pile up and you don't know what you have and it all just becomes junk.

Don't worry, if you start feeling you have too much "stuff" clear it out, give some to Goodwill, some to the trash, and sell or give away other things. It's a good feeling.

Answer 4

It's okay to keep stuff, in time you will know when it's right to let things go.

Answer 5

If you haven't looked at it in one year, throw it out. This doesn't apply to yearbooks and etc.