I'm not sure... I don't like mess and clutter, but I do suck at throwing things away. I get possesive about objects that are MINE. I even get upset when throwing away things like an old pair of jeans. I slept on a bed that was had springs sticking out of it and was lumpy for years because I couldn't bare to part with it (though that might also have been part of my depression and 'punishing' myself... and also thinking if I take my life that's an awful lot of money to waste in buying a new bed).

Still, like I said I don't like mess. My room is the tidiest in the house - although my desk does have a lot of papers on it that should probably be cleaned, even they are in 'neatish' piles and I pretty much know where everything is so it's in a sort of order.

I have collections of DVDs and books, etc, but that is because I like them and rewatch/reread them. And I have had big clearouts of all things including books and given away DVDs that I didn't particularly like to others who I knew did like them.

So I guess the answer is no, though sometimes I struggle with that part of myself. I think it becomes unhealthy when someone can no longer battle that side of themselves and a 'collection' becomes mess. If you cannot function because of your 'collection' it is hoarding and damaging.

My husband was a hoarder.  He collected electronics and had piles of broken VCR's and other parts.  He would pick them up out of the trash on the street.  We almost got evicted at one point and it was very stressful.  When he passed away I had to go through and throw out all this stuff.  He had boxes of useless things like broken pens.  When he was alive I just put up with it but now I am pretty good about throwing things away.

I am not a hoarder, quite the opposite actually.  I have a tendency to get rid of anything and everything in some vain attempt to declutter my mind by decluttering my house or something.  I tend to let housekeeping fall by the wayside when I am feeling down so when I start feeling better I want to have everything nice and neat with no clutter.  It is not necessarily a bad thing except sometimes I throw things that I shouldn't have.  I don't tend to place a sentimental value on anything.  I imagine with hoarders it is the opposite, where everything has some sort of sentimental or emotional value for them.  I have watched these shows and these people are genuinely upset when their possessions are removed.

However, it is interesting, when I was young I had a hard time getting rid of toys sometimes.  Especially dolls and stuffed animals.  I used to think of them like they were alive and I would feel bad for them, literally.  Like, if I would put some on the bed at night I would have to put all of them so they wouldn't "feel bad" lol.  I grew out of this eventually but I imagine it is that sort of emotional attachment to inanimate objects that can lead to that type of hoarding behavior.

This is an interesting topic to me cause there are a bunch of poeple in my family we affectionately call "pack rats".  Nowhere near as extreme as the tv show but hoarding behavior all the same.  My sister tends to keep things way too long because she will attach a sentimental value to everything.  She will throw things eventually though.  My aunt has more of a problem with excessive shopping/spending but then just keeps everything she buys all around her house in their plastic bags with the tags/wrapping still on because she has no place to put it, and indeed doesn't need it.  They have both had issues with depression and anxiety.