One specific symptom on OCD patients is hoarding with a ratio of 18% to 42%. They tend to keep useless, worthless items in large volumes with a great secrecy and disgust. These items are considered excess by normal people. Hoarding is solely associated with OCD because of doing it out of distress. They are afraid of throwing something, afraid not to remember it someday, or the feeling that you might need it in the days to come or for a belief that something bad might happen.

The mess brought about by these symptoms can be primarily seen. It has a devastating effect in their social life and their self esteem. Hoarding aspects varies in degrees of their existence. The shame that they feel because of what they are doing could change into total isolation. They tend to think that hiding is the best solution for their unusual behavior. Their accumulation of things is preferably not for material purposes but only to relieve their feeling of discomfort.

Not all people displaying a messy surrounding have OCD. Some consider it as their freedom of choice. You could ask for some medical help to know what and how to release yourself from these behavioral patterns.

There are several similar distinctive reasons why a certain person is hoarding.

- The value of a certain thing is sentimental to the person and they are keeping it for a personal purpose. They considered the item as part of them and not an individual object thus throwing it means discarding a part of them.

- The person with OCD finds it totally difficult in making decisions and are usually stuck in the "what if" questions. They tend up to avoid acquiring something by just keeping them. Their avoidance of throwing the item is not because they are not capable of doing it, but they are afraid they might be doing something wrong or committed a serious mistake.

- There is a difficulty of organizing things in such a way that they could easily detect where to look for it in case it is needed. They create an environment of chaos that is sometimes apparent to the outside world, but a hoarder certainly has a defensive mechanism regarding their actions, that it is the easiest way for them to find an item in junk file.

- There is a chain of reaction in the responsibilities involved between the hoarders and his family or to other people. They have the tendency to feel hyper-responsible for their actions and those they care for. You might dump someone if they carry unnecessary objects for assuming that they might need those. There is also an acquired obligation that instead of wasting things you could just recycle it or give it to charity works.

- They have the control perfectionism syndrome. They throw something that is losing all the authority or control over it and the feeling of never finding it again if the trash was picked by the garbage collector.

- They hoard because forgetfulness may attack them. A printed or written material is kept so that it can be read again. They think that their ability to remember is to hoard things. They tend to think that ff they throw it, they won't remember it ever again.

- The tendency why people hoard is because they find it harder to let go. They consider the items a part of them and will lose its value if they throw it.

Hoarding is a part of the signs and symptoms of OCD. It is important that if you somewhat detect this behavior in your family or in yourself, you should consult a psychiatrist immediately before you find it hard to let go of things.