不捨得扔東西也是病！你是重度囤積狂嗎？

家中衣物堆積如山，彷彿生活在垃圾堆裏，但哪一樣也捨不得扔，而且彷彿永遠也停不下來囤積的腳步……這並不是自理能力差或者犯懶，其實這也是一種病。上個月，世界衛生組織將囤積症單獨列爲一種精神疾病。來看看英國《每日郵報》對一位患者的採訪故事。

Many of us struggle to part with treasured belongings, but for years Stephanie Evans felt compelled to hang on to just about everything she’d ever bought.

我們很多人都不願捨棄一些珍貴的物品，但多年以來，斯蒂芬妮-埃文斯總覺得必須把買回來的沒見東西都留下來。

As a result her hallway and living room were crammed with towering stacks of books and magazines. Her bedroom, meanwhile, was so full of piles of clothes that, until recently, she had to sleep on the sofa in the living room.

結果就是，她家的門廳和客廳塞滿了高高摞起的書本雜誌，臥室裏的衣服堆積如山，最近她不得不睡在客廳沙發上。

‘I hated the way the clutter made me feel but I just couldn’t throw anything away —even if something broke I couldn’t part with it,’ says Stephanie, 51, a teaching assistant from Birmingham.

51歲的斯蒂芬妮是伯明翰的一名助教。她說：“我討厭周圍亂七八糟的感覺，但我就是沒辦法扔掉任何一樣東西，即使有些東西已經壞掉了，我也不想扔。”

‘I just told myself I needed more shelves and storage space and that one day I would sort it all out. Family would sometimes help me clear it, but I would fill the space again and this left me feeling even more of a failure.’

“我只是告訴自己，我需要更多的架子和儲物空間，總有一天我能整理好。家人有時會幫我清理，但我會再一次把家裏塞滿，這讓我感覺很失敗。”

Stephanie, who is divorced, has a daughter aged 28, and only close family and friends had any idea of her problem as she ensured she always looked immaculate when she left for work.

斯蒂芬妮離異，有一個28歲的女兒。只有親朋好友知道她有囤積症，因爲她出門上班時總能把自己收拾得乾淨利落。

‘When I stepped outside the front door, no one would have guessed that I was living in such chaos,’ she says. ‘It was like I was leading a double life. But I dreaded having to go back to the flat at the end of the day.’

她說：“我走出家門之後，沒人會想到我生活在垃圾堆裏。感覺我像是在過雙重生活。但每天下班時我都很害怕回家。”

Stephanie suffers from hoarding disorder, thought to affect an estimated 3.4 million people in the UK to some degree.

斯蒂芬妮患有囤積症。據估計，英國有340萬人不同程度地受到囤積症的影響。

But, like many, she didn’t think it was something doctors would treat, so she didn’t seek help.

但就像很多人那樣，斯蒂芬妮並不認爲這是需要醫生治療的症狀，所以她從未就醫。

In fact, hoarding is a recognized medical disorder — previously classed as a type of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), where people repeat certain behaviors or thoughts. But last month hoarding was recognized as a psychiatric disorder in its own right by the World Health Organisation.

其實，囤積是醫學上確認的失調症狀，之前曾被歸類爲強迫症（重複某種行爲或想法）的一種。但就在上月，世界衛生組織將其單獨列爲一種精神疾病。

Hoarding disorder is defined as having an excessive number of items, having persistent difficulty throwing possessions away and storing them in a chaotic manner, to such an extent that this interferes with everyday living and causes significant distress or affects quality of life.

囤積症的定義是，擁有的物品數量過多、一直很難扔掉物品以及雜亂地囤積物品，且到達了擾亂日常生活的程度，造成嚴重的痛苦或影響到生活質量。

Those affected will collect anything, such as clothes, newspapers, photos, even printouts of emails, till receipts and grass cuttings, says Dr Stuart Whomsley, an NHS clinical psychologist who practises in Corby, Northamptonshire.

在（英國）北安普敦郡的科比工作的英國國民保健體系臨牀心理學家斯圖亞特-霍姆斯里博士說，囤積症患者會囤積任何東西，比如衣服、報紙、照片，甚至打印出的電郵、收據和碎草屑。

While some hang on to pretty much everything they have, others collect specific items. ‘Hoarders fear making the wrong decision about what to keep and what to throw out, so they keep everything,’ says Dr Whomsley.

一些囤積症患者什麼都囤，還有一些則囤積特定的物品。“什麼該留什麼該扔，囤積症患者害怕做出錯誤的決定，所以他們囤積所有的物品。”

‘It is a psychological condition and not a lifestyle choice,’ he adds. ‘It can be associated with other mental health conditions such as depression and social anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or OCD.’

他補充說：“這是一種心理學病症，而不是一種生活方式。囤積症可能與其他的精神疾病有關，比如抑鬱症、社交焦慮症、注意力缺陷多動症、創傷後應激障礙或者強迫症。”

Hoarders may also have perfectionist tendencies, be prone to procrastination and have problems planning and organizing.

囤積狂也可能有完美主義傾向，易患拖延症，無法做到有條不紊。

‘Many of those affected will have had hoarding tendencies since childhood but living with their parents or a partner meant that it wasn’t allowed to get out of hand,’ says Dr Whomsley.

霍姆斯里博士說：“很多患有囤積症的人打小就喜歡囤積物品，但和父母或伴侶一起居住意味着情況還不至於失控。”

‘The most common time for it to come to a head is when people are middle-aged or older and living alone.’ The condition is often triggered by a traumatic event such as a bereavement or divorce.

“一般這些人到中年以後或開始獨居時會失控。”囤積症常由創傷事件引發，比如喪親或者離異。

‘One theory is that having experienced loss in the past, a person is primed to resist any further losses, hence their reluctance to part with things,’ adds Dr Whomsley. Hoarding can have far-reaching effects on a person’s life. Heather Matuozzo, who runs the Clouds End hoarders support group in Solihull, West Midlands, says people can lose their children and their homes due to hoarding.

霍姆斯里博士補充說：“一種理論認爲，如果一個人在過去經歷過失去，那麼他在今後就不願失去任何東西，所以就無法扔掉東西。”囤積症可能對一個人的生活產生深遠影響。希瑟-馬拓佐說，人們可能因爲囤積症與孩子和家人分開。希瑟-馬拓佐在英國西米德蘭茲郡經營“雲端”囤積症支持機構。

‘It can be very serious and yet people with this condition don’t get much sympathy as it is seen as self-inflicted rather than an illness. Hopefully, that will now change.’

“囤積症可能會很嚴重，但囤積症患者得不到多少同情，因爲人們認爲這是他們自己造成的，而不是一種病。希望人們能改變這種看法。”

Treatment options include a mix of phased decluttering and psychological therapies, including individual and group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a talking therapy to encourage people to think about their reactions to everyday events differently.

囤積症的療法包括分階段進行的多種整理操作和心理治療，比如個人和羣體認知行爲療法、通過談話療法鼓勵人們從不同的角度看待他們對日常事件的反應等。

Clearing out someone’s cluttered house is rarely effective on its own, says Dr Whomsley.

霍姆斯里博士說，清理雜亂的房間本身很難奏效。

‘That won’t solve the problem because they will just fill it up again, and there’s nearly always an underlying psychological cause that needs addressing,’ he says.

他說：“這解決不了問題，因爲他們會把房間再次塞滿，而且總是有潛在的心理問題需要解決。”