Reddit reviews Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding

I would describe myself and my situation very similarly to how you've described yours. Perfectionist. Messy. Random collections. I self-medicated with shopping.

Here's how my realization went...

1. Several years ago, I visited my parents in another state and my mom said she had DVR'd an episode of Oprah that I just had to watch. It was about a woman with a hoard up to the ceilings in her home. My mom said, "that's you." I was terribly offended because I certainly did not have stuff up the ceiling (I didn't). I rolled my eyes and went about my life.
   
   
2. For my birthday a couple months later, my mom got me this book. I was once again offended. I put it on a shelf and forgot about it.
   
   
3. That's about when all the shows about hoarders started. I watched Hoarders because it's interesting and I think I liked to say to myself, "See, mom? I'm not a hoarder. I'm not these people living in piles of garbage."
   
   But then...as I watched Hoarders and listened to the hoarders talk about WHY they didn't want to give up one particular item or another, I realized I understood them and I felt their pain. OMG. Do I understand them because I am one of them?!
   
   
4. I dug out that book my mom gave me and read it. I also read this book. They explain in detail a few different thought patterns that contribute to hoarding and I definitely saw myself in a couple of them. I was definitely a low-level hoarder with the potential, as you said, to slide down that slippery slope to disaster. I guess the realization itself was a slippery slope. ;-)
   
   Since that time I have been able to recognize those wrong thought patterns and get things under control before it became a real problem. I give a lot of credit to my SO for helping me channel my energies into productive pursuits.

What some groups around the USA are doing is putting together facilitator-led recovery support groups and workshops using the book Buried In Treasures for the members and the Buried in Treasures Workshop facilitator's guide (available for free by sending a message using the contact form at the link). An example of such a workshop is here.

Here are the support groups we're aware of in the U.K.. And here are the groups we know of in Australia. Please note that it's been a while since they were posted (I really need to update some of those links), so some groups may have changed or become defunct.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

>but am afraid, if I throw it away, might have to buy it again

My mother was like that, and it's part of why I'm very minimalist. I buy very carefully and don't keep things I don't actually need/use.

http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Compulsive-Hoarding-Harbinger-Self-Help/dp/157224349X/

http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Treasures-Compulsive-Acquiring-Hoarding/dp/0195300580/

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Peace-Things-Your-Life/dp/0312284888/

Sell the cable on Craigslist or at a junk dealer, and move on. If you do some construction/wiring in future, you can get more cable. It's ok.

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