Am I a hoarder or just untidy?

Hoarders have an existential need to never get rid of things, possibly due to past emotional trauma. — dpa

Crammed rooms, stacks of documents, even mountains of rubbish: People who suffer from compulsive hoarding are unable to get the situation in their home under control.

“It’s not the same as someone being untidy or a family with three children not putting away the toys at the end of the day,” explains Veronika Schroeter, founder of the Hoarders Competency Centre in Germany.