Thursday, March 18, 2010

Disposophobia

The other day a friend and I were discussing ‘junk filled’ messy houses, apartments, whatever.  And, I told her that there was a name for that and that a post on this blog previously had discussed it.

Since she had apparently missed it and since it is a reallllly interesting topic with a most interesting name, we are reposting in her honor (not that she is messy, but so that she will know about it.)

So, here it is.

Disposophobia!  Do you have it? Do you know anyone with it?

The Collyer brothers had it (though when I heard about them years ago, I thought their name was spelled Collier. Sigh. Oh well.) Anyway, they had it. Big time.

So, what is ‘Disposophobia’?  Let’s divide up the word and find out what it means:

Dispose  = get rid of by throwing away or giving or selling something to someone else 
+ Phobia = an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something

So, bottom line, this means ‘the fear of getting rid of something,  so you just keep it.’

And, yes, Disposophobia was a new term to me. But, I think I know several folks who have it. Hmmm. Isn’t that what folks always say when they have the ‘problem’ and not the ‘others’ for whom they are ‘seeking help’? Oh, well, whatever.

Anyway, to read about some famous folks who had Disposophobia, HERE'S THE LINK
(By the way, this link sometimes loads slowly so wait or click on reload if the wait is too long.)