Anybody dealt with someone who got obsessed with cleaning and sorting garbage later in life?

I'm talking about saving, cleaning and sorting household trash like cardboard boxes, plastic containers and other trash being sorted or saved for 'recycling.'

Have heard of some folks being obsessive about it to the point it causes conflict so I started asking around and it seems to be more common of an issue than I thought.

Talked to someone the other day who is constantly getting into it with their older parents about not sorting trash correctly at their house when visiting.

What is the source of this? Any ideas?

Seems like we've gone from putting everything in a metal can out back to people being obsessive about cleaning and sorting trash to the point that is a mental health concern. What is the root of this?

Anybody seen this or know what I'm talking about, and how did you deal with it?

That's probably part of it. The idea of recycling been hammered into the public contiousness, but I think it goes beyond that.

Is it because modern life is so easy that people crave some sort of regime to follow, and it turns out that sorting trash fills that need?

Some people just suck? And I'd argue anyone who gets onto their elder parents about anything, sans maybe health issues, sucks.

Jim Gaffigan has a good bit about his wife getting on him about cleaning/sorting the garbage.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

---

Anybody dealt with someone who got obsessed with cleaning and sorting garbage later in life?

I'm talking about saving, cleaning and sorting household trash like cardboard boxes, plastic containers and other trash being sorted or saved for 'recycling.'

Have heard of some folks being obsessive about it to the point it causes conflict so I started asking around and it seems to be more common of an issue than I thought.

Talked to someone the other day who is constantly getting into it with their older parents about not sorting trash correctly at their house when visiting.

What is the source of this? Any ideas?

Seems like we've gone from putting everything in a metal can out back to people being obsessive about cleaning and sorting trash to the point that is a mental health concern. What is the root of this?

Anybody seen this or know what I'm talking about, and how did you deal with it?

---

I know this could be a bit extreme but depending on the people and what's going on in their lives it could be about being in control. Perhaps there are things going on they are powerless toward and this is something they feel they can control. Maybe their physical health is declining and they can't do what they used to. Maybe they can't eat what they want anymore. Maybe they're under financial constraints that are impacting them. It could also be indicative of something else deeper going on. If this behavior is new, odds are something happened to initiate it. The only advice I would give is to talk to them, see what's going on. But if they're anything like my parents they're going to keep anything concerning close to the chest. I feel like a few times a year they tell me about something from earlier or the prior year that could have been an issue but they never brought it up because they don't want to think they're being a burden.

RightWingConspirator said:

---

Some folks are under the delusion that that the recycle bin contents are actually being recycled.

---

To be fair, I think it does matter what we're talking about and where you live. When I was in Japan, they did 5+ stream recycling and you legit had to remove labels from bottles, and the bottle caps. Separate different types of paper from cardboard, different plastics went in different bins. I can't remember all the rules, but that makes it significantly easier to recycle and much more cost effective.

In almost all cases plastic is never worth recycling though. Supposedly the oil companies convinced us with decades of marketing that it was. But it was just all going to 3rd world countries.



To the OP's question, those people probably have underlying anxiety disorders. It could be that they're concerned about the environment, or someone has convinced them that if they don't do their part, that they're screwing over the Earth, or perhaps their kids/grandkids. It becomes a disorder when it starts causing them distress or affects their ability to function normally. If someone loses their job because they show up late due to them trying to sort their garbage, or they yell at coworkers for not doing it right, or the inability to get it done right causes them anguish, etc. If someone is happy and functional in society, despite their issues, then technically not a disorder, I don't think.

Ha ha I kind of do this. And I can assure you it is not because my life is easy. Far from it. My job is insane. I don't know why I kind of obsess over it. I am by no means a tree hugger, but I do have a guilty feeling when not recycling something that should go in the recycle bin. And I know it's true that most of that stuff is not recycled, if any.

If I find an aluminum cat in the trashcan, I pull it out and find the culprit in the house. I ask them "why do they hate the earth???"!

Yeah man…I'm honestly the same lol

Oh… I'm this way for my compost piles, too.

"What the heck?!?!?! An apple core in the trashcan?"

Where are they from? I know in countries like Germany you can get fined for not sorting recycling

Know what you are talking about in Europe. Some places they force you to buy a colored plastic bag for general trash so it forces you to recycle or pay more, then it gets sorted again by the trash people.

But a US problem is what I'm talking about.

Best described as a mental vapor-lock when dealing with trash in general and a resistance throwing stuff away. Some component of it hoarding. Trying to find a reason to not throw something away the should be disposed of and being religious about what gets tossed out.

In any event, I've heard a number of people raise this same issue over the past few years in general conversation, and seen it myself. So I wanted to see if it was widespread or a coincidence.

People edging towards the the autism spectrum but not really there can do stuff like that. Or someone that is very conscientious.

I'm a psychiatrist with about 20 years experience post med school. My brief take on it would be:

OCD is like many mental illnesses, is more of a spectrum and an on off switch. Many many people, including many successful people have traits of occd that may or may not lead them to require help or actually cause serious disruption in their life.

Many people are able to keep their mind occupied in their day to day life organizing thing enough to satisfy their brains desire for order/structure. They are likely using it in a very productive way. They might be a good manager at work, a good parent keeping track of their kids school projects, activities, etc…

As they get older and these demands become less their idle mind may look for trivial things to organize or take control of

Another trigger is just stress from any direction (loneliness, health concerns, funny, etc…). As stress increases their primary reaction is to seek to control something, anything, so they attempt to control what they control

This would be 3 brief paragraph explanation of a very complex issue.

FTD