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Attachment to Objects

NAS82466

Hi, I'd like to know others' thoughts on an autistic person's attachment to objects.

I personally have a problem with hoarding that has recently got worse. It seems to be linked to my anxiety levels and, when I have things on my mind, it becomes a problem.

I'm thinking it might be linked to the idea of having a "worry toy", like a fidget toy. I often like to "fiddle" with an object in my hands whilst I'm thinking...

Also though, I seem to find sentimental attachments to put onto useless items more and more at the moment and I am finding it difficult to not do this.

I'm in my 40s and have just recently been diagnosed as autistic.

Any thoughts/advice?

  • in reply to I Sperg

    I still have (here on my desk) the monkey and bear characters from my Fisher Price circus train set that was around in the late 1960's.  The monkey no longer has a tail, but they both look in rude health.

    A hoarder - moi ?!

  • in reply to James pro

    Yep - that's a classic - and the irony of this tiny little proboscis, a note that the tag line of this SPAM reads as "communication with girls from all over the world, verified profiles of all users and video channel protection from advertising and spam. Evolve to a new way of chatting!"

    James Pro - Please f**k off and don't return.

    MODS - Get him!!

  • in reply to James pro

    That's not a great first post, James. Even by our standards...

  • I still own a rubber spider I got when I was four. And pretty much everything else I've ever had since...

    I've been properly burgled twice in my life, the insurance money was nice, but I rather hoped they'd stolen more stuff... 

    I've recently discovered the joy of gifting, or at least am dipping my toes into it.

    It's when you give people stuff, that isn't crap you want to get rid of, but the nice stuff, that you really ought to part with but don't really want to...

  • I have a tendency towards hoarding and it runs in my family. I try and keep it under control, as I don't want to end up like one of those severe cases featured on the TV programmes.

    However it is a constant battle and requires a huge amount of mental effort to try and make a decision. On the rare occasion when I  can motivate myself to start the task of sorting out I often just end up moving things from one room to another. 

    I keep things as I think they might be useful or needed in the future. Even something like an empty Amazon cardboard box I keep, as it might be useful for packing if I move in the future. 

    In most cases it isn't a sentimental attachment I have to the object. I think the reason behind my attachment is often financial. I consider what the item cost me and do not want to waste that money by getting rid of it. Alternatively I might need it in the future and what I might have to pay to replace it if I got rid of it.

    I can't resist a bargain and if I find something going very cheap, a glitch or a misprice I will buy many more than I need of the item. Enough to last me many years or many lifetimes in some cases. I then have the problem of trying to store all of those items for however many years it takes until I am ready to use them.

    I am fearful of making the wrong decision, getting rid of something and regretting it in the future. A simple decision over one object can be so difficult. Multiply those decisions by the hundreds or thousands of items I need to sort through and the task soon becomes so overwhelming that I completely abandon it.

  • Neuroscience has shown so many autistic brains are more attracted to objects than people. Due to the loss of some social circuits in the front of the brain, autistic people exercise the back of the brain more which controls objectivity. Others don’t understand how I can just sit or stand stirring at the same object for a wide length of time, it’s because I actually think about the things I look at instead of just looking at it.