Clutter is simply any amount of unorganized items laying around in your home. It could be anything from the craft supplies your little one didn’t put away, to the collection of dead pens in your junk drawer.

You can accumulate clutter in a short time if you don’t have proper storage space. If you lead a busy lifestyle, you may end up with a pile of junk that you told yourself you’d get to later, but never found the time to do so.

As long as you don’t let things go too far, having a bit of clutter on occasion is completely normal. Once the clutter starts to take over your home, you may have a more serious problem to consider.

Most people don’t notice hoarding until the clutter has completely overrun the home.

But you can catch it sooner if you know what to look out for.

Not everyone with clutter is a hoarder. But all hoarders have clutter. The difference is that hoarding is linked to mental illness, while even healthy people can have clutter.

The biggest telltale sign of hoarding is a deep attachment to the clutter, resulting in an intense anxiety response towards throwing anything away.

If you notice your loved one struggling with this kind of attachment, you may want to get help from a hoarding professional to determine your next move.

The extreme reactions that hoarders have to things make decluttering their homes much more difficult. On top of clutter, hoarders commonly deal with health risks like structural damage, mold, and pests.