Where's a scientist when you need one ?
There is one big, glaring variable that the "experts" on "hoarding" haven't been discussing to any sigificant extent, and that is the relationships, the partner and other family members of the "hoarder", and the impact they might have on the Dysfunction in Possessions.
They completely gloss over this question - there is no major chapter, no mentions of a partner having a negative impact on the dysfunction in possessions building up, other than demands to discard ; much less, an actively disruptive or even abusive partner having a massively negative impact.
Generally, there are a lot of variables similarly ignored by the "experts" - what I'm going to generally discuss as "the other side of the equation" - which also includes finances, job, life events and any other relevant circumstances.
How can this be, that all of this so far has been ignored almost completely, and if mentioned at all, never in a "contributing factor" light ?
Where is the big chart overlaying level of dsyfunction in possessions with entering into a relationship, available time, finances surplus, real estate, flows, all the things that would be good to see together ?
And they claim their theories are backed by the "best available science"..
It's like investigating a plane crash without consulting the black boxes, and without asking the question "what led to this?".
If anything, the partner is considered to have a positive impact due to their efforts to "keep the place clean(er)" ; negative impact is never mentioned.
What about overspending by the partner, or generally costs associated with supporting a family ?
What about relentless demand for time and attention, such as by what I call "locomotive personality" ?
What about simple underestimation of the impact admitting another person into your life has on everything ?
What about outright abuse ?
And, finances, systems thinking - I might understand how this would escape these "experts", these psychologists.. but relationships should be clearly within their purview, no ?
The potential impact of a "narcissistic" partner is occasionally mentioned - by psychologists-influencers specializing in "narcissism" - because it's their thing, and they rightly find all kinds of consequences from a toxic partner - though unfortunately these "narcissism" specialists also repeat the whole lot of dogma on "hoarding" coming from the "hoarding" "experts" without questioning it - so it is somewhat helpful in raising that issue, but it's still within the faulty model.
Jeez.