Lets hear about what you collect and why

why do we collect what do we collect let me know please do you collect in secret are you out about your collecting I want to know what you collect and why you collect it/them?

A 52-year-old research biologist, was referred to a psychiatric department by his GP, and was found to be suffering from compulsive collecting behaviour for 23 years.

The man reported that he collected items that were inexpensive or free, from antique shops, beaches and other places and although the items were useful in the general sense of the word, he would be unlikely to use them.

The man reported loss of concentration due to worrying about his collecting, and anxiety when trying to resist his desire to collect and hoard. Treatment was initiated with paroxetine at 10 mg daily and increased to 20 mg daily after 1 month. Four weeks later, the compulsive collecting behaviour had stopped, and after 2 months, the patient had begun to dispose of his collected items.

I found this article in a newspaper, and became fascinated by what this mans house might have looked like during his collecting obsession, I wondered how this man might have disposed of his collection, what did he actually collect, what was the impact of his collecting behaviour and how did it feel when he no longer collected?

".... his maverick appetite opens onto the least seemly range of objects on offer in the workd: dishevelled scraps, things so decidedly secondhand and unserviceable that they are routinely subsumed under the generic label of 'rubbish' - defined, that is, in the unredeemably negative terms of utter worthlessness". (from a discussion on Kurt Schwitters, from the book The Cultures of Colleting).