What causes someone to be a "packrat", and can they be made to change?

Question

If so, how?

Answer 1

No they can't change! Thats just part of who they are!

Answer 2

Typically growing up poor and having to use every bit of everything causes it. The habit remains even when economic status changes. A packrat can get better, but it takes time, lots of self-control and a supportive family/circle of friends.

I have personal experience with this because my mother is a packrat. She saves everything: expired medicines, restaurant ketchup packets, sugar packets, plastic dining utensils, re-usable plastic containers, etc. When she was a child, her family was on the lower end of the economic spectrum. They had to make everything last, get whatever they could for free and squeeze the last drop out of everything. When she was raising my brother and me, we didn't have a lot of money, either. So she did the same things her parents did.

The upside of all of this was that due to Mom's frugality, my brother and I had more than children with richer parents, just as Mom and her brothers had more than other, wealthier kids. Mom is fairly wealthy now. But she still holds onto things she doesn't need. Old habits die hard. She's trying to change and is getting better. Sometimes she turns her back while I go through her kitchen and throw things out. When she sees that the world won't come to an end when I throw out her McDonald's ketchup packet collection (with packets dating from 1984-2005) she's better able to throw stuff out on her own.

Answer 3

Actually a LOT of people learned to be packrats during the great depression, I learned it from my parents who learned it from their parents who learned it growing up in that era. So many things were so scarce that they had to make do with very little, so they would rarely throw anything away if it could possibly be repaired or reused.

I get inspiration from shows like "clean sweep" where they toss the entire contents of a room out on the lawn and make you go through every item to decide if it's really worth keeping. Every so often I'll just take a section of a room and go through everything and put a bunch of stuff out for donations, recycling or just garbage, and actually try to organize what is really worth keeping.

Calling it a mental disorder is not productive for most people. Yes there are some people that take it to the EXTREME and barely have a little walkway through their entire house full of useless crap... For most of us it's just a matter of putting forth the effort to try and change the habit. And be patient, you didn't become this way overnight, you're not going to change overnight. Long habits can take weeks, months, or years to change.

Answer 4

I believe it is learned at an early age. I am a packrat my husband is not. He tries really hard to change me. Needless to say after 13 years of marriage this has not happened yet. Although, it has put some pressure on the marriage. I really want to change, but not sure if I can let items go so easily.

Answer 5

A packrat is a mental illness. It starts when you are so poor you can't have the basics in life, or you think you may have to go without. Then you start collecting, and packing it away. You "think" it's like money $$ in the bank, and it makes you feel good. You have delussions of grandore, thinking everything will be alright, as long as you have plenty of "stuff." False...
Yes, a mental health doctor can change this, go to a counsellor.

Answer 6

I think it may be classified in the Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. I dated someone like this, his entire living room was surrounded with books, CD's, ect. You could not see the wall anywhere. I personally couldn't stand it, because he was organizing his stuff on a daily basis and there was no end in sight
He also had a serious spending problem, where he had a $12,000 credit card debit, which he didn't see as a problem. I truly think he had a mental illness, along with depression/anxiety. I'm sure there are meds that would help with this, hoarding things is probably an outlet for them as exercise is for athletes. It's just not a healthy habit.

Answer 7

The behavior of hoarding is seen in various illnesses. Because of that, it has been difficult to place in a diagnostic category. Time and/or age of onset are variable and the behavior differs from person to person.

Frequently, older adults have been found to hoard for the following reasons:

Items are perceived as valuable
items provide a source of security
Fear of forgetting or losing items
Constant need to collect and keep things
Obtaining love not found from people
Fear others will obtain their personal information
Physical limitations and frailty
Inability to organize
Self neglect
Stressful life events


Hoarding is recognized as both a mental health issue and a public health problem. It is typically not an immediate crisis. The hoarding behavior usually has been occurring for a long time and hasty interventions will not resolve it. in addition, interventions without the older adults cooperation can lead to the development of dangerous behaviors. Careful assessment of the individual situation is essential for a successful outcome.

Therefore, it is recommended that intervention be collaborative involving the older adult, family and other agencies, i.e. mental health, adult protective services, code enforcement, building & safety, animal control and criminal justice.

Answer 8

Packrat hey..hummmmmmmm, not willing to let go of the past..stuck in a time zone of thier own, no a person can only change if they want to.

Answer 9

NO once a pack rat always a pack rat.. you just have to secretly throw things away..
There is no way of changing the that i know of.. Because they say i might be able to use that some day..
What i do . if it hasn't been seen or used in a years time it is gone.. and you can't just throw it in the garbage they go through garbage.. . take it and put it in someone elses garbage or in a dumpster somewhere.
burn it if you are allowed to burn garbage.
Start selling it in garage sales and make some money off of the junk that they brought home..
good luck

Answer 10

Pack rat syndrome is a mental illness and only if the person wants to change will they change. It usually begins from a loss of someone or something like a job, etc, important to the person

Answer 11

Some people have problems letting go of ANYTHING! I use to know a lady who saved her hair that she cleaned from her brush! They use to say that people who were "great depression babies" were pack rats. However I know alot of young people who cling to everything too. I think it becomes an obsessive disorder somewhere along the line and it's not likely to change until they KNOW they have a problem and desire a change. "Things" are not permanent. Godloveya.