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Sentimental or a hoarder? TikTok users are documenting their struggles of getting rid of anything that holds a remote meaning
Given that graduation season is well underway, both high school and college seniors have to decide which items to part ways with in an effort to declutter their spaces. Sentimentality, it seems, plays a major across the board.
On May 14, 21-year-old Dana Gee (@banjobroke) posted a short clip on TikTok in which she decides whether to throw out a series of items, like her backpack from fifth grade.
“I just graduated college today,” she tearfully says. “I’m throwing out a lot of stuff. Do you think I can get rid of my backpack from fifth grade? I don’t know if I can because my little fifth grade self wrote that I have music on Tuesdays and Fridays, and if I don’t have this backpack I might forget to bring my clarinet to school.”
‘I’m reading the comments and starting to realize I might be a sentimental hoarder…’
Gee’s 15-second video has garnered more than 7.8 million views and 1.5 million likes. Self-described “sentimental hoarders” have taken to the comments to stand in solidarity.
“I don’t wanna accept that I’m a hoarder but I attach memories and emotions to EVERYTHING or I’m scared I’ll need something some day so I keep it all,” @mabelpinesirl wrote.
“I’m reading the comments and starting to realize I might be a sentimental hoarder…,” @aroura.14 replied.
“i’m the worst sentimental hoarder i can’t even throw away little things if they have even the smallest value to me,” @fuxover commented.
On May 26, TikTok user Skarlet (@skarlet.rue) shared the abundance of items she kept over the years.
Eve McLean (@evemclean5) posted a video on May 10, showcasing the box she stores many of her sentimental items.
On April 28, creator George (@georgeephobia) shared a five-second video of her contemplating whether or not to keep “every old receipt and frat wristband” she finds while packing up her dorm room.
Animal hoarding, book hoarding and food hoarding are just a couple of the various subtypes of hoarding disorder. The disorder is an ongoing difficulty in parting ways with possessions due to the belief that they must save.
According to Mayo Clinic, those with hoarding disorder typically save items because:
You believe these items are unique or that you’ll need them at some point in the future.
You feel emotionally connected to items that remind you of happier times or represent beloved people or pets.
You feel safe and comforted when surrounded by things.
You don’t want to waste anything.
Over-sentimental hoarding, in particular, is a subtype characterized by precious memories becoming associated with otherwise worthless items following a notably stressful or traumatic experience. We cannot, however, confirm whether or not these creators have been clinically diagnosed with hoarding disorder.
Writer Rosie Leizrowice who’s previously struggled with distinguishing which items of sentimental value to part ways with, has a series of tips for individuals who may feel debilitated by their need to keep things. She urges readers to remember that “your memories are not held within physical items.”
“They are encoded somewhere in your brain, an organ which happens to do its job pretty well,” she wrote for a Huffington Post piece entitled “The Psychology Of Sentimental Items And How To Let Go Of Them.” “We are capable of remembering far more than it seems on the surface. Looking at your grandmother’s rusted watering can make you remember the details of her face, yes. But the memories are not in the item itself. They are in your mind and the object just triggers them.”
Leizrowice also suggests that people consider listing their most valued possessions “without actually looking at them.”
“I do this on a regular basis to assess what I use enough to remember it even exists,” she wrote. “If you cannot even remember you own something, the chances are that it matters less than you think.”
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