Introduction
Hoarding disorder (HD) is defined as the ‘persistent difficulty getting rid of or parting with possessions due to a perceived need to save the items and results in the accumulation of clutter that congests living spaces that can render “normal” life impossible’ (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). HD is associated with additional distress and/or functional impairments that impact wellbeing and quality of life. According to Nutley et al. (Reference Nutley, Read, Martinez, Eichenbaum, Nosheny, Weiner, Mackin and Mathews2023), hoarding is associated with a clear disability burden, higher than that of major medical/psychiatric disorders such as diabetes, major depression, and chronic pain. Hoarding symptoms are associated with psychological distress to both the individual and family/friends of the hoarder (Tolin et al., Reference Tolin, Frost, Steketee, Gray and Fitch2008) and HD is commonly co-morbid with mood and anxiety disorders, in particular major depressive disorder (MDD) (Archer et al., Reference Archer, Moran, Garza, Zakrzewski, Martin, Chou and Mathews2019; Frost et al., Reference Frost, Steketee and Tolin2015). People with hoarding behaviours (PwHB) need to be able to access a range of support options in a timely manner for their own wellbeing, as well as that of friends and family, and the experience of accessing support should be perceived as positive and effective.
Evidenced-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) treatments for HD have been developed and demonstrated to be efficacious (Rodgers et al., Reference Rodgers, McDonald and Wootton2021; Tolin et al., Reference Tolin, Frost, Steketee and Muroff2015; Tolin et al., Reference Tolin, Worden and Levy2025) and have been associated with symptom improvement (O’Brien and Laws, Reference O’Brien and Laws2025) helping PwHB to understand how to better manage beliefs and behaviours that are linked to keeping items (Aziz et al., Reference Aziz, Ghalli and Alfons2025). However, the availability of CBT specifically for hoarding is limited (O’Brien and Laws, Reference O’Brien and Laws2025) and although PwHB consider the idea of individual CBT acceptable, many people with hoarding difficulties have never tried any treatment or service (Rodriguez et al., Reference Rodriguez, Levinson, Patel, Rottier, Zwerling, Essock and Simpson2016). Of those that have accessed CBT, less than one-third of patients who complete treatment achieve clinically significant change, and approximately one-third of patients drop out before completion (David et al., Reference David, Crone and Norberg2022). Specific barriers associated with CBT include problems finding qualified therapists, treatment duration, client motivation and adherence (Delucchi et al., Reference Delucchi, Mathews and Mackin2023; Mataix-Cols et al., Reference Mataix-Cols, Marks, Greist, Kobak and Baer2002; Robertson et al., Reference Robertson, Paparo and Wootton2020; Rodriguez et al., Reference Rodriguez, Levinson, Patel, Rottier, Zwerling, Essock and Simpson2016). Barriers to seeking help more broadly are complex and multi-faceted and include service gaps, perceived stigma, a belief one should work out their own problems, a lack of knowledge regarding available treatment, a need for control over services and support and treatment costs (Clark et al., Reference Clark, Murphy Morgan, Neave, Punton, Rivers and Sillence2025; McGrath et al., Reference McGrath, Russell and Masterson2024; Ryninks et al., Reference Ryninks, Wallace and Gregory2019; Robertson et al., Reference Robertson, Paparo and Wootton2020).
Recently, there has been a call to understand more about support groups and the role of peers for PwHB (McGrath et al., Reference McGrath, Russell and Masterson2024). Peer support (i.e. from people with lived experience of hoarding) has had a presence (albeit often an adjunct to the main therapy) in several treatment and support services for HD. Delucchi et al. (Reference Delucchi, Mathews and Mackin2023) found that a peer led support group using a self-help workbook was as effective as group CBT led by trained mental health professionals for the treatment of HD and a private web-based self-help group where members were required to post about their action plans and progress was successful in reducing hoarding symptoms (Muroff et al., Reference Muroff, Steketee, Himle and Frost2010). Support groups provide a non-judgemental space where PwHB can open up regarding their difficulties (McGrath et al., Reference McGrath, Russell and Masterson2024) and a sense of interconnection is important to PwHB when considering effective strategies for symptom relief and improved wellbeing (Jones et al., Reference Jones, Weir and Yap2025).
Online discussion forums offer peer support to people with a wide range of mental health issues (Morini et al., Reference Morini, Sansoni, Rossetti, Pedreschi and Castillo2025a; Morini et al., Reference Morini, Citraro, Sajno, Sansoni, Riva, Stella and Rossetti2025b; Sit et al., Reference Sit, Elliott, Wright, Scott and Hartling2024; Smit et al., Reference Smit, Vrijsen, Groeneweg, Vellinga-Dings, Peelen and Spijker2021). Unlike the examples of peer support highlighted above, these forums are typically professional- or facilitator-free spaces and do not align to a particular workbook or set of cognitive strategies. Across a range of health conditions, online peer support offer members experiential knowledge, mutual support and encouragement (Sillence, Reference Sillence2013; van Uden-Kraan et al., Reference van Uden-Kraan, Drossaert, Taal, Lebrun, Drossaers-Bakker, Smit and van de Laar2008), which can have a therapeutic and empowering effect on participants (Shoebotham and Coulson, Reference Shoebotham and Coulson2016). Online discussion forums offer the advantage of being accessible 24/7, providing the opportunity to discuss the impact of hoarding and coping strategies with people who are experiencing similar issues. They offer a sense of privacy (Rodriguez et al., Reference Rodriguez, Levinson, Patel, Rottier, Zwerling, Essock and Simpson2016) and importantly anonymity for posters. Indeed, evidence suggests that PwHB have limited social networks (Kim et al., Reference Kim, Steketee and Frost2001), lower levels of social support (Medard and Kellett, Reference Medard and Kellett2014), and lower levels of perceived support generally (Edwards et al., Reference Edwards, Salkovskis and Bream2023), making it more difficult to access in-person, day-to-day support. PwHB also report higher levels of loneliness, disconnection with others and lacking reciprocal relationships compared with people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or health controls (Edwards et al., Reference Edwards, Salkovskis and Bream2023). Online support forums may offer a sense of connection and belonging (Montali et al., Reference Montali, Zulato, Frigerio, Frangi and Camussi2022), promoting self-management of health conditions (Soós et al., Reference Soós, Coulson and Davies2022) affecting the way in which people experience health services and learn to tell the story of their condition (Ziebland and Wyke, Reference Ziebland and Wyke2012). In summary, online forums allow people to access support from peers free from the constraints of scheduling and in the privacy of their own home without any loss of anonymity. Online forums may also be more acceptable for people who worry about the presentability of their home environment or feel uncomfortable being looked at by peers (Tobi et al., Reference Tobi, Osman, Abu Bakar and Othman2021).
Research has demonstrated that informal help-seeking for mental health disorders is associated with increased likelihood of formal help-seeking (Gulliver et al., Reference Gulliver, Griffiths and Christensen2010) so online support might be useful to PwHB for several reasons (e.g. protecting anonymity, asynchronous support, etc). However, little is known about the kinds of messages that are exchanged on online forums and what sort of information and support is available in such spaces. One interesting exception is an analysis of posts in Reddit forums dedicated to adult children of parents with hoarding problems (Kocol et al., Reference Kocol, Sabel, Timpano and Grisham2025). The authors found a high prevalence of ‘vent posts’ – sharing experiences and frustrations – and highlighted the need for specific therapeutic support for this population. These findings suggest value in exploring online peer support forums as a way of understanding the experiences and support needs of PwHB more broadly. Reddit is a popular online discussion platform allowing people to take part in focused subcommunities or ‘subreddits’, and previous research has explored posts around potentially stigmatising topics on Reddit including mental health conditions (De Choudhury and De, Reference De Choudhury and De2014; Morini et al., Reference Morini, Sansoni, Rossetti, Pedreschi and Castillo2025a; Morini et al., Reference Morini, Citraro, Sajno, Sansoni, Riva, Stella and Rossetti2025b; Sit et al., Reference Sit, Elliott, Wright, Scott and Hartling2024), making Reddit a suitable platform for examining hoarding difficulties, a platform that is current and well used. Our current study builds on the very limited research within a hoarding context to ask: what are the potential support opportunities of Reddit for people with hoarding difficulties?
Method
Data collection
We chose the subreddit forum (https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/) because of its high activity levels and number of users. Furthermore, the anonymity of postings on Reddit can allow for more engaging feedback comparable to other social media platforms, particularly regarding stigmatised conditions (De Choudhury and De, Reference De Choudhury and De2014). Reddit has the potential to be a conduit for networks of ongoing support (Redondo-Sama et al., Reference Redondo-Sama, Morlà-Folch, Burgués, Amador and Magaraggia2021) and seeking support is one of the main motivations for starting a discussion within mental health focused subreddits (Morini et al., Reference Morini, Sansoni, Rossetti, Pedreschi and Castillo2025a). We used the Reddit Application Programming Interface (API) with the Python Reddit API Wrapper (PRAW) Python library to randomly scrape 100 threads. Threads are comment sections under a post. When an individual posts a message on the subreddit, other users can leave comments, which can also receive comments and so on. A thread in this context refers to the entire comment section under an original post. After removing duplicates and administrator messages, we were left with 89 threads and a total of 1297 messages. Fifty-three of the threads were initiated by PwHB and 36 in relation to friends and family with hoarding behaviours. Threads ranged from 2 to 74 messages with an average of 14.57 messages, and there were 411 uniquely identified authors of whom 83 were identified as friends/family members.
Data analysis
A critical realist approach was taken, balancing the experiences expressed in the messages whilst recognising that the ways in which individuals describe and understand their experiences can be shaped by social and cultural factors (Fletcher, Reference Fletcher2017). Due to the exploratory nature of the study, the data were analysed using data-driven thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, Reference Braun and Clarke2022). All the remaining 1297 messages were exported to Excel where both authors read through the messages in the context of their original threading, making notes on early observations. At this stage, authors decided to analyse the dataset as whole including messages posted by PwHB and those posted by carers, family or friends given the interactivity between the sets of messages. Carers were not reaching out to other carers but to other PwHB and those posters were responding. Both authors separately open-coded half of the messages. Example codes at this stage included practical advice, what hoarding looks like, tough love, moral support and environmental discarding. The authors then met to discuss and group their codes and to iteratively develop themes that reflected the dataset as a whole. Throughout this process, authors worked through tentative themes checking for coverage, meaning and contextual relevance ensuring that the final three themes, their description and names reflected the original threaded context of the message and were not seen in isolation. Authors were mindful of their positionality throughout the analysis process. One author had extensive experience of facilitating an in-person support group for PwHB. Regular in-person meetings between the authors allowed any assumptions or biases to be explored, challenged and discussed. Finally, the three themes along with their descriptors and illustrative quotes were shared with a colleague who has expertise in qualitative methods and knowledge of hoarding (albeit in a different context) for sense checking and coherence.
Results
The following three themes were generated from the dataset: Emotional and practical support strategies for help seekers ; Seeking help on behalf of others ; and Practical problems with discarding . Each theme is introduced below and is supported by illustrative quotes.
Emotional and practical support strategies for help seekers
This theme focuses on the way hoarders help each other and promote self-help strategies. The majority of threads contained either an emotional or a practical response, or both, to help seekers describing their situations. These responses combine emotional support and encouragement alongside practical information and advice exchange. The focus on emotional support is evident, with many messages congratulating PwHB for seeking help and taking action to help themselves. These messages encourage persistence; they reward action and offer moral support for those in a similar situation. Posters encourage each other and acknowledge progress:
‘… You have been through so much. You’ve made brilliant progress. You deserve serious credit for your achievements.’ (PwHB)
‘Good luck for your health. Well done getting started on clearing. The first step on the journey is always the hardest.’ (PwHB)
The platform also allows for empathic responses from individuals with lived experiences, emphasising the potential peer support opportunities: ‘Very well done! We too are celebrating along with you!’. This emotional support is welcomed by the original posters, and posters are grateful for the non-judgemental support they receive:
‘This group has really helped keep me motivated. It’s reassuring to know I am not alone. We hoarders should never feel ashamed.’ (PwHB)
In addition to emotional support, posters seek information and advice about their difficulties. A common question present on the subreddit relates to ‘how to get started’, with posters asking, ‘Does anybody have any advice on where to start?’ and ‘Any tips on how to set goals and work through this would be really appreciated’. Some posters are keen to explain that they are trying to help themselves but that they cannot manage this alone: ‘I need help organizing, I have tried to organise but it’s not even touching the surface’. In response, posters provide advice through direct and indirect means. Many posters provide an account of ‘what they do’. This indirect form of advice allows people to see a variety of experiences and to assess the ‘fit’ for them and their circumstances. Here accounts are often less detailed but show a realistic approach to self-help:
‘My place didn’t get so messy overnight, and it’s taken months to sort it and there is still a long way to go, but I do a small bit every day and this adds up over the weeks. But it does get overwhelming and then I have to take a break, go off and so something else, and then I come back to it.’ (PwHB)
‘In the past weeks I’ve cleared out 12 boxes of stuff and yesterday got rid of six bags of clothes and shoes. I’m not there yet and progress is still slow and it’s hard but I’m doing it. I feel better every day.’ (PwHB)
Other responses are more direct and offer a more detailed set of activities or even instructions for approaching the problem. Here the responses usually focus on practical issues of tidying and disposing of items rather than on seeking psychological help. Whilst occasionally people offer opinions on the efficacy of more formal sources of support and help, the focus remains on how to help yourself with the ‘hoard’:
‘My friend told me these three steps for cleaning: 1. Get rid of all the rubbish. This includes broken and dirty things, anything you know you do not want anymore. 2. Clear your surfaces (tables, sides, floor) into boxes for sorting later. 3. Sweep or vacuum the floor. If that feels too overwhelming, break it down further, split the room into smaller areas and then cover everything except the little area you’re working on with a bedsheet to stop it being too much. Then work through 1–3.’ (PwHB)
In return for the advice, posters usually promise, and often provide, updates on their progress. These updates hold people to account, and posters express gratitude for the opportunity to report back on their progress (to a group that seem genuinely interested and supportive):
‘I think at the start of this year I said I would have my front porch cleaned and that I’d get rid of my old fridge. My porch is now clean. The fridge gets removed at the weekend, and it’s outside and ready to go. I’ve thrown out loads. Thanks to this group, I have managed to stay motivated. I no longer feel so alone. It’s also great to know that hoarders like me should not feel ashamed.’ (PwHB)
Seeking help on behalf of others
This theme, which accounts for approximately 40% of the data, captures those posters who are seeking advice for the people they care about with hoarding difficulties. Posters often disclose the history of their relationship to the PwHB, be that a parent, grandparent or romantic partner. Whilst the distress and frustration are apparent, family/friend posters still seek advice on what to do and how to help: ‘I need some advice from people who know about hoarding’:
‘My main goal for our house is to be able to see the fireplace again so we can watch TV. I do understand that hoarding comes from trauma, and she [poster’s mother] needs help. But I can’t take it anymore. I haven’t let anyone come over to our house for over 6 years now, because I’m too embarrassed, which means I hardly see any friends. This is also because I’m so tired of cleaning. How do I get help for my mum?’ (family/friend)
Whilst some respondents focus on practical solutions, many chose to respond by providing a reminder of the psychological difficulties of being a PwHB and the need for professional support. Many respondents reiterate that hoarding is a symptom of a mental illness or that is a mental health issue in most cases, and one that needs professional support.
Knowing what it is like to be a PwHB gives posters a privileged position from which to convey home truths to the advice seeker. Here posters urge advice seekers to set boundaries and remind them that their own wellbeing is also important:
‘Most doctors would say that it’s easier to help a hoarder if you’re not living with them. That way you can have space to control your emotions, and their hoarding isn’t affecting YOUR physical or mental health … It’s YOUR house. You DO have the option to kick her [person hoarding] out. If she is going to stay, she needs to respect your home and your rules. Having boundaries does NOT make you an unkind person.’ (PwHB)
Those seeking help for others find it valuable to hear from people with lived experience of hoarding difficulties. It offers much-needed insight and encourages empathy for the PwHB:
‘Thank you, this has helped a lot. I know anxiety is a huge part of it for [PwHB]. It’s been enlightening to hear things from your (and therefore her) perspective. I don’t want to make things worse for her.’ (family/friend)
Most respondents are particularly forceful when it comes to offering advice to those posters considering a new relationship or those who have recently embarked on a romantic relationship with a PwHB. In these cases, respondents, both PwHB and friends and family, are quite forthright about protecting the poster as exemplified by the posts by PwHB: ‘Own oxygen mask first’ and ‘run away and don’t look back’, and by friends and family: ‘if I were you I would let them go, you cannot love them out of hoarding’. Some respondents are less blunt but still reiterate the difficulties PwHB face in terms of accepting the problem and recognising that help is needed and, as the posts below illustrate, often pose a series of tough questions or messages for the advice seeker:
‘I urge holding off on moving in together until [PwHB] accepts they need help and commits to getting it.’ (PwHB)
‘Ask yourself do you want to do this forever? It isn’t going to get better, they are not going to change.’ (PwHB)
Practical problems with discarding
In this final theme the focus is on the practical difficulties around getting rid of accumulated items. This theme captures an important topic on the forum, representing about 20% of all the messages collected and one that contains the longest message threads (72, and 74 messages). It is also a theme that generates some debate and disagreement among posters. This is in sharp contrast to the unified sense of emotional support found elsewhere in the community. Whilst most posters ask for help about how to start tidying, problems emerge once PwHB are ready to dispose of unwanted items. The subreddit contains an ongoing debate around the ‘ethics of disposal’ with posters advocating or rejecting throwing things away. Alternative disposal mechanisms such as selling unwanted items or giving them away in yard sales or donating at thrift stores or charity shops are debated with complex and heated reasoning on both sides.
The focus of this group is on the practical approach of reducing ‘the hoard’ as one poster puts it: ‘I know this sub [Reddit] is keen on reducing stuff’. The tension then arises between the importance of getting rid of the clutter quickly (‘Just get it out of your house’) and the potential problems that causes further down the line. For many posters, donating items at the local thrift store or charity shop is the first option. Here a poster explains that knowing that their stuff might be helpful for other people is a motivating force in relinquishing the items:
‘Give your stuff away. Someone who finds it may really need it. Someone who is poor who might find it in a charity shop … This is the frame of mind that helps me when I talk myself into letting things go. My junk is someone else’s treasure. This helps me to let that item go.’ (PwHB)
However, some posters highlight potential ethical issues with the policies and practices of certain stores and urge people not to donate their items to these stores but suggest alternative venues and mechanisms instead. This again raises tensions for people with limited options for disposal:
‘Putting it at the curb will incur a fine in many places. The other places you suggest require effort to list your items. Putting obstacles in the way is how you prevent hoarders from cleaning out.’ (PwHB)
‘People with HD are often very much aware of the ethical challenges in getting rid of stuff. Most hoards are not actually made up of items that smaller charities can afford to take.’ (PwHB)
Posters point out practical difficulties with donating, including restrictions on the types of items thrift stores will accept, and a small number of posters suggest that donating items facilitates and encourages other PwHB and this raises heated debate as the exchange below illustrates:
‘You have kept on saying that a landfill is just as good a place for items than taking them to a place where someone can use them. It’s far better a useful item is used than it ending up in landfill. You imply that donating something useful is just going to encourage another hoarder. This is bullshit. You also seem to think that, for some odd reason, all hoarders are the same, and hoard in the same way as each other. That’s not true.” (PwHB)
‘I did not say this in my post. You’ve just twisted my words to suit your own ends. Whatever.’ (PwHB)
Whilst sending items to landfill is not promoted as the primary mechanism of disposal, many posters encourage PwHB not to feel guilty if that is the only course of action available to them, and although other routes can be explored these should not be at the expense of getting rid of the items. Many posters characterise this final disposal stage as a ‘battle’ and one that must be won at all costs, therefore ultimately throwing things away has to remain an option and posters implore each other not to feel bad about that if other options have been explored:
‘Do not feel bad for throwing things away that you *might* be able to sell. You deserve a nice home. Do what you need to. The ultimate goal isn’t to find new homes for your items, it’s to make a home for you.’ (PwHB)
Ultimately, posters recognise that the stress caused by not knowing how to get rid of items is problematic, and that letting go or relinquishing control over the items is important. There is an understanding of the benefits of letting go of items:
‘I only go so far as to separate out rubbish/recycle/charity/resale (clothes/books). After that I don’t worry about it again. It’s gone and I’m free.’ (PwHB)
Discussion
This study explored how people are using an asynchronous online support forum for hoarding difficulties. The subreddit provides a space for PwHB to share their experiences and describe the problems they face in relation to HD and to seek help. The online space facilitates the exchange of emotional and practical support. Posters detail their lived experience of practical strategies for reducing their ‘hoard’ and the updates on progress provide a sense of continued connection. Posters seeking advice on behalf of someone else also make use of the support forum and receive messages that help foster compassion for PwHB but also foreground the wellbeing of the advice seeker themselves. Finally, we see debate and frustration around the practicalities of disposing of unwanted items. The ethics of disposal highlights additional obstacles for PwHB and the limits of a geographically dispersed group. In the discussion we examine how the type of content exchanged within the online forum helps us better understand support issues for PwHB and secondly, what the findings suggest about the opportunities and challenges presented by online support for PwHB.
The online forum provides a space for people to discuss hoarding difficulties with people who have similar experiences. One way in which people benefit from reading other people’s experiences is to learn to relate the story of their condition (Ziebland and Wyke, Reference Ziebland and Wyke2012). This emphasises the importance of being able to see ‘how’ others describe what has happened to them, the language used and the terms of reference. How posters choose to talk about their hoarding experiences could be useful for new posters in the future as they come to relate their story to others including health professionals or other professional services. Furthermore, constructing a narrative around the experiences of hoarding may allow people to make sense of what has happened and support emotional recovery (Carlick & Biley, Reference Carlick and Biley2004). Our findings also highlight the need for support for people caring for PwHB. In response to posts from family and friends, we saw respondents provide first-hand accounts of what it is like to be a PwHB providing insight and encouraging empathy whilst also validating the needs of those caring or supporting PwHB and in many cases encouraging them to put their needs first. Our findings suggest that understanding more about hoarding behaviours and people who experience hoarding difficulties may be important in motivating family and friends to continue supporting PwHB. This finding has resonance given that relatives of PwHB are often less inclined to offer their support compared with supporters of people with other mental health conditions such as OCD (Dennis et al., Reference Dennis, Rosen and Salkovskis2024). Relatives of PwHB often express frustration and distress due to the PwHB’s lack of self-awareness (Sekhon and Leontieva, Reference Sekhon and Leontieva2023) and being able to gain insights from other PwHB within the subreddit may prove beneficial for family and friends in several ways.
Previous research has highlighted the inadequacy of available services to support adult children of PwHB (Dennis et al., Reference Dennis, Rosen and Salkovskis2024; Rees et al., Reference Rees, Valentine and Anderson2018) and the need for specific therapeutic attention for this group of people (Kocol et al., Reference Kocol, Sabel, Timpano and Grisham2025). Our findings suggest that in addition to carers finding support through interactions with other carers (Foster et al., Reference Foster, Egwuonwu, Vernon, Alarifi and Hughes2025), including carers alongside PwHB also offers value for friends and family. We also extend the scope of those caring for or about a PwHB to include adult grandchildren, friends, partners and would-be partners, and highlight how the subreddit is a useful source of support for these posters too.
In addition to emotional support, the practical support on the forum centred on self-help strategies. Whilst some posters discussed their experiences with professional support (psychological support and professional cleaning and organising services), most posters exchanged their own strategies for how to get started with tackling a ‘hoard’, sharing tips and offering practical advice on how to tackle barriers to discarding items. Practical suggestions were often detailed and constituted ‘action plans’ for PwHB to follow. Lived experience was often the mechanism through which ‘advice’ was offered although, as with other forums, posters were also able to craft messages that conveyed indirect and more direct advice as well (Sillence, Reference Sillence2013). The importance of peer support and advice around tidying is evident in the literature. CBT interventions for HD that include home sessions significantly improve treatment outcomes (Tolin et al., Reference Tolin, Frost, Steketee and Muroff2015). Practising decluttering with another person during a home visit is potentially useful and can be more rewarding (David et al., Reference David, Crone and Norberg2022). Taking a line through this finding, we speculate on whether posting an action plan online and then importantly being asked for and providing a progress update of the plan mimics the idea of decluttering in the presence of other individuals.
A strong thread within the forum centred on the practical difficulties around getting rid of unwanted items. Whilst posters agreed on action plans for tidying and decluttering, there was more debate around how to dispose of ‘the hoard’. Posters entered sometimes heated discussions around ethical disposal versus the necessity of a PwHB to ‘get rid’ of their items at all costs. Beliefs about possessions are central to the development and maintenance of hoarding (Frost and Hartl, Reference Frost and Hartl1996; Smith et al., Reference Smith, Nathwani, Barry and Gregory2025) and one of these beliefs is the increased sense of responsibility towards items (Steketee et al., Reference Steketee, Frost and Kyrios2003). PwHB appear to have an exaggerated sense of duty or moral/ethical responsibility for the care and disposition of possessions to prevent their being harmed or wasted. This ‘material scrupulosity’ is a significant predictor of hoarding symptoms (Frost et al., Reference Frost, Gabrielson, Deady, Dernbach, Guevara, Yap and Grisham2018). Whilst particularly pertinent to PwHB and highlighting a recurring theme of control (Clark et al., Reference Clark, Murphy Morgan, Neave, Punton, Rivers and Sillence2025; Ryninks et al., Reference Ryninks, Wallace and Gregory2019), the issue of getting rid of unwanted items speaks to a wider societal problem regarding recycling and responsible disposal. Recent reports have highlighted confused and chaotic household recycling systems (The Conversation, 2023) and numerous barriers impact intention to donate unwanted items to charity shops including logistical issues around access to drop-off points (Guo and Xu, Reference Guo and Xu2021).
The anonymity of Reddit allows space for PwHB to describe their lived experiences. Posters shared practical advice and emotional support for navigating or living with hoarding in a non-judgemental space (McGrath et al., Reference McGrath, Russell and Masterson2024). Online spaces provide a structured form of social interaction in which PwHB, a group known for limited social support networks (Kim et al., Reference Kim, Steketee and Frost2001), can engage whilst controlling the nature and frequency of their disclosures and interactions. This form of support may well be more accessible and less intimidating for PwHB than group-based treatment or video conferencing (Robertson et al., Reference Robertson, Paparo and Wootton2020). The fact that the subreddit is constantly available means that progress updates, emotional encouragement and ‘vent’ posts do not have to wait for a weekly or monthly schedule and allows PwHB to maintain control over their support-seeking behaviours (Ryninks et al., Reference Ryninks, Wallace and Gregory2019). Access to these online support spaces provides social support and may improve a sense of belonging (Edwards et al., Reference Edwards, Salkovskis and Bream2023) and start to address the high levels of loneliness for PwHB (Yap et al., Reference Yap, Timpano, Isemann, Svehla and Grisham2023). Online peer support may improve social network size and improve how PwHB relate to one another, potentially reducing hoarding symptoms (Bedi and Woody, Reference Bedi and Woody2025; Yap et al., Reference Yap, Timpano, Schmidt and Grisham2024). Finally, for those PwHB that are reticent about seeking professional help, interacting with peers online may be a useful first step towards more formal help-seeking (Gulliver et al., Reference Gulliver, Griffiths and Christensen2010; Naslund et al., Reference Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch and Bartels2016).
Although posters reply to individual messages, the publicly visible responses can have a far broader beneficial reach with PwHB able to see a wide range of experiences and opinions. Without a group leader to direct discussions, topics are free flowing and fast changing, and debates and disagreements can occur. Online admin means that offensive or rule-breaking messages can be removed, but misunderstandings can still occur, in part fuelled by the lack of non-verbal cues. Online communities like this are also prone to develop their own identities (Armstrong et al., Reference Armstrong, Koteyko and Powell2012). This is an important aspect of the longevity of any online support group, but it inevitably influences the type of content or direction of topics and conversations (Tang et al., Reference Tang, Yao and Yu2021). Although the geographical spread of participants provides an ‘always on’ function, it does mean that not all information and advice work across all settings. Posters do not always know what services are available in different locations, and information is not always tailored to specific areas, and this makes signposting to services and support more difficult. This is a notable comparison with in-person support groups that provide advice and information to PwHB centred on a certain geographical location.
The study has a number of limitations. Whilst we have sampled posts from one subreddit, it may be that different online forums vary in their content, for example have a greater focus on seeking formal support. Posters self-report their hoarding difficulties and as such we do not have a comprehensive picture of the severity of HD or any diagnoses that posters may have, and how this may affect the value of the online space. We also do not have demographic information about posters, such as gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status that might also provide more context about their specific challenges when it comes to managing hoarding and discarding of items (e.g. additional barriers around access to support service or health inequalities). Future research recommendations include interviews with posters as a useful next step in understanding how their experiences of support from the subreddit compare to and fit in with other forms of support they have accessed, the benefits and challenges of subreddit support, and to what extent they see their continued used of subreddit as a future support option. In conclusion, the subreddit may represent a valuable place for PwHB and those that care about someone struggling with hoarding to find help and support.
Clinical implications
The findings suggest three overall clinical implications. First, whilst echoing calls for better support for carers of PwHB, we suggest that the inclusion of supporters, e.g. family and friends, into the therapeutic process may be beneficial for PwHB and their supporters (Kocol et al., Reference Kocol, Sabel, Timpano and Grisham2025). This may enhance supporters’ motivation (Dennis et al., Reference Dennis, Rosen and Salkovskis2024) and recognises the importance of establishing a sense of interconnection, an important factor for PwHB when considering effective strategies for symptom relief (Jones et al., Reference Jones, Weir and Yap2025). The findings also point to the importance of recognising the need to discuss interpersonal and social relationships within therapy. Second, we should ensure that CBT continues to focus on ways to support executive functioning issues through an emphasis on thinking flexibly about the barriers to discarding (Tolin et al., Reference Tolin, Worden and Levy2025). The action plans shared in the support group emphasise issues such as breaking down problems, scheduling and planning, and remain a key issue for PwHB. Third, PwHB often feel an ethical responsibility for the care and disposition of their possessions and express a strong sense of control over this process (Clark et al., Reference Clark, Murphy Morgan, Neave, Punton, Rivers and Sillence2025) and both these factors need to be worked into case formulations.
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, E.S. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr Kerry Lakey for her valuable suggestions to earlier drafts.
Author contributions
Elizabeth Sillence: Conceptualization (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (equal), Methodology (equal), Project administration (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal); Claire Murphy-Morgan: Formal analysis (equal), Methodology (equal), Project administration (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal).
Financial support
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests
The authors declare none.
Ethical standards
The study was granted ethical approval by the lead author’s institution Northumbria University (5610). No consent was obtained from users to analyse data, as data were taken from one publicly available online community that did not require registration to read or access posts. We adhered to Reddit’s own guidance regarding publicly available data (Reddit, 2024). In accordance with the British Psychological Society’s guidelines for internet-mediated research (British Psychological Society, 2021), we paraphrased any quotes we used to illustrate findings to prevent traceability, and any potentially identifiable information was removed from the data. Throughout we refer to people with hoarding behaviours (PwHB) rather than hoarders or people with hoarding disorder; although we note messages contain self-labelling and where that has occurred, we have kept the original terminology.
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