Originally Posted by
astral276
I think WW2 created a generation of hoarders. When stuff was hard to get you didn't throw anything away. That 'keep it' attitude lived on after the war and was instilled in many children of parents that lived through the war. Now we are a throw-away society. Why make do and mend when you can just buy new? Plus, products now are not designed to last - or even be repaired when they do go wrong.
No doubt there is an actual illness that causes some people to hoard when prior deprivation is not a factor.
There is a difference though between collecting and hoarding. You hoard for no logical reason. You collect out of an interest in what you collect.