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Hoarding.
My 10 year old son has started a strange hoarding thing. Or, should I say, more of an aversion to throwing things out. And not in the typical "I'm too lazy to throw shit out" that I would totally understand, because yeah ... me? But in a "I'm obsessed with an odd bit of garbage and I can't stand the thought of it being tossed."
Like, an empty bottle of Gravol, the bottom cardboard bit of a case of water, an empty apple juice container, a broken ugly picture, etc.
Now, he's got some 'issues' regarding anxiety, and we're pretty cool with that and have worked around and with it as much as possible, but this garbage thing is odd. And he KNOWS it's odd, but can't help feeling it anyway. And of course, he knows he SHOULDN'T feel that way about random garbage, and gets upset because he does.
I've explained to him that feeling things is fine, even if they're strange feelings, but that doesn't mean he has to ACT on those feelings. And I've told him that other people feel similar things, generally in an attempt to relive stress and anxiety, but that he has to understand that this empty pepsi bottle will NOT bring him eternal happiness.
He's not a hoarder in the typical A&E house full of dolls/cats/garbage way. I could probably throw out half of the stuff that he owns, and he'd never even notice. Hell, if he DOES manage to pull something out of the garbage and bring it home, he ignores it once it's here, it's just the ... throwing away?
We've compromised, on occasion, by taking a photo of the item in question, and that seems to make him feel better, but he's never asked to see that photo. ??? I've also drawn the line at digging through the garbage to find said item.
Any thoughts? Tips? General advice?
We have an appointment with his GP this week, hopefully for a referral to an anxiety clinic. We has some success with a private therapist last year, but the cost is $$mucho expensive, and the clinic should be covered by insurance or at least cheaper, and my hope is that he can meet other kids with similar problems, so he doesn't feel so alone.
My 10 year old son has started a strange hoarding thing. Or, should I say, more of an aversion to throwing things out. And not in the typical "I'm too lazy to throw shit out" that I would totally understand, because yeah ... me? But in a "I'm obsessed with an odd bit of garbage and I can't stand the thought of it being tossed."
Like, an empty bottle of Gravol, the bottom cardboard bit of a case of water, an empty apple juice container, a broken ugly picture, etc.
Now, he's got some 'issues' regarding anxiety, and we're pretty cool with that and have worked around and with it as much as possible, but this garbage thing is odd. And he KNOWS it's odd, but can't help feeling it anyway. And of course, he knows he SHOULDN'T feel that way about random garbage, and gets upset because he does.
I've explained to him that feeling things is fine, even if they're strange feelings, but that doesn't mean he has to ACT on those feelings. And I've told him that other people feel similar things, generally in an attempt to relive stress and anxiety, but that he has to understand that this empty pepsi bottle will NOT bring him eternal happiness.
He's not a hoarder in the typical A&E house full of dolls/cats/garbage way. I could probably throw out half of the stuff that he owns, and he'd never even notice. Hell, if he DOES manage to pull something out of the garbage and bring it home, he ignores it once it's here, it's just the ... throwing away?
We've compromised, on occasion, by taking a photo of the item in question, and that seems to make him feel better, but he's never asked to see that photo. ??? I've also drawn the line at digging through the garbage to find said item.
Any thoughts? Tips? General advice?
We have an appointment with his GP this week, hopefully for a referral to an anxiety clinic. We has some success with a private therapist last year, but the cost is $$mucho expensive, and the clinic should be covered by insurance or at least cheaper, and my hope is that he can meet other kids with similar problems, so he doesn't feel so alone.
