"Hoarder" like "psychopath" has ceased to be a useful layperson's useful medical term. I think the medical community would do us some service by coming up with

"Hoarder" like "psychopath" has ceased to be a useful layperson's useful medical term. I think the medical community would do us some service by coming up with a new phrase. How about "obsessive physical retainer"? Also of interest is that societies view of "obsessive physical retainers" is so negative. We don't generally view mental hoarding as a disorder. And as far as the physical sort, imaging how many thousands of years behind we would now be if those monks hadn't hoarded those ancient manuscripts. They could hardly read let alone understand them but kept them anyway. We wouldn't know that Lucretius had theorized the atom among many other wonderful things. I have a acquaintance who society would probably consider a hoarder. Some of you may know him. Many will know people like him. He likes stuff. Definitely far along on the hoarder spectrum. He acquired an abandoned rail station to give a home to all his stuff. He has hundreds of cars. He has every game ever made. He has more knickknacks than any antique store I've ever seen. There is no garbage. There is no stench. So I'd claim that he doesn't suffer from "obsessive physical retainer" pathology.