Does your Polish partner suffer from disposophobia

OP Wedle 15 | 490

16 Nov 2011 / #31

She is fantastic I would not wish to change her for the world, there are just one or two issues that I have a beef with. I am just trying to establish if there are many other victims of Polish hoarding, out there in the real world.

I am one of the birds (as opposed to bushes), changing homes every so often, and reducing amount of electronic equipment, computers, papers, books, and furniture during every move.

I think transient hoarder is for another thread, I have seen a few of those pushing their trolleys with all their worldly goods in.

Although Boletus, who mentioned hoarding is only physical goods.

time means 5 | 1309

16 Nov 2011 / #32

She is fantastic

I'm sure she is mate. I was just being a little light hearted and i've enjoyed reading your post.

grubas1

16 Nov 2011 / #33

The points raised in point number 2 are most definitely in the Polish national psych. Although Poles consider themselves traditional the last decade has allowed Poles abandoning the national psyche of victimhood and turning liabilities into assets.

You forgot to mention the "Communist mentality"!

Although Poles consider themselves traditional

They do?How many did you ask and what exactly do they mean by "traditional" ?

abandoning the national psyche of victimhood

This psyche thing,what is it?

It would be more interesting for me to debate this issue with Poles that are living in Poland rather than those who have not been living in Poland for a decade or so, as those Poles have lost their modern day Polishness.

What's "modern day Polishness"?

OP Wedle 15 | 490

16 Nov 2011 / #34

You forgot to mention the "Communist mentality"!

They do?How many did you ask and what exactly do they mean by "traditional" ?

This psyche thing,what is it?

What's "modern day Polishness"?

Grubas1, I am prepared to answer your question factually and honestly,but it would be more real it you signed yourself up as a PF member so you will be treated seriously.

Grubas1, you are not hiding behind your Usa are you?

grubas 12 | 1382

16 Nov 2011 / #35

Signed or not I am still the same good old Grubas.

Grubas1, you are not hiding behind your Usa are you?

What do you mean "hiding behind your USA"?

teflcat 5 | 1024

16 Nov 2011 / #36

Show a link to statistical data of any sort, supporting your claim, otherwise I say you just lie.

Why are Americans so aggressive? Perhaps I should have put, "In my opinion". I've also discussed this with a lot of Poles (I mean Polish people who live in Poland) and they all recognized the tendency not to throw away stuff as a national trait, especially among older people.

grubas 12 | 1382

16 Nov 2011 / #37

I've also discussed this with a lot of Poles (I mean Polish people who live in Poland) and they all recognized the tendency not to throw away stuff as a national trait, especially among older people.

If the Poles you discussed it with lived few years outside of Poland they would know that it's a worlwide common trait among older people.See,the only difference between Poles in Poland and Poles abroad is that the latter have seen more and therefore have better judgement.

Sidliste_Chodov 1 | 438

16 Nov 2011 / #38

It's more about not wasting anything, rather than just hoarding for some anally-retentive reason.

I think this is true, but it has a lot to do with financial status, rather than where people are from - you won't change your TV every year if you can't afford to, you change it only when it breaks down.

As Poland becomes more like the richer nations, this is likely to decrease. British people could definitely learn from this, though; there really is no need to change decent electronic goods for something "cooler", just for the sake of being able to show off. As the recession bites, I suspect we will see more so-called "Polish" behaviour over here.

This was posted from my crumbling yet fully-functional six year-old supermarket computer, by the way ;) haha

peterweg 37 | 2305

16 Nov 2011 / #39

The points raised in point number 2 are most definitely in the Polish national psych.

You ask the question then refuse to lisen to any answer but the one you want to hear.

Hoarding is not a national trait, I've only lived here for three years but I've seen dozens of peoples homes. Its a trait your wife suffers and you are trying to cover up for its oddness by claiming its normal for Poland. Its not normal in Poland or elsewhere.

Your wife is simply a bit nutty and abnormal. Accept it.

ShawnH 8 | 1488

16 Nov 2011 / #40

I think it stems from documentation or rather the need to hang on to documentation for everything here. Any time I have decided not to hang on to a stupid sheet of paper because it seemed so trivial a thing to have documented, it has come back to bite me in the ass. I believe that has permeated into the thinking some people have with regards to other things in life.

That's my better half right there. The receipts she keeps in a couple of different "depots" in the house, and a bunch in her purse to boot. I often bit my tongue about keeping so many of them, but it has paid off at times when something needs to be returned. Once or twice a year, she will sift through them and "separate the wheat from the chaff" so to speak, and then starts all over again.

I am not innocent in that I just can't seem to dispose of National Geographic magazines I have collected over the years, thinking the kids will use them in time for this or that project, but it has yet to pay off...

I am sure there is some senior's home somewhere that would be willing to take them off my hands.....

OP Wedle 15 | 490

16 Nov 2011 / #41

What do you mean "hiding behind your USA"?

Hiding behind your green card and only arriving at being Polish behind closed doors. lol

I am responding out of courtesy, I am leaving my office in 10, so I will try to respond later. Nice to see you in the light.

You ask the question then refuse to lisen to any answer but the one you want to hear.

I am guessing by your response you are a teacher, I have my opinion and therefore I voice it, I am not speaking over anyone or trying to change their opinion.

Hoarding is not a national trait, I've only lived here for three years but I've seen dozens of peoples homes

So you are still in the pink goggle stage, it is 100% a Polish national trait without question, in fact it is up their on the shelf with victimhood.

Its a trait your wife suffers and you are trying to cover up for its oddness by claiming its normal for Poland.

I am not covering up for my wife's behaviour, I am broadcasting it over a public forum, hardly claiming its normal am I, come on- Peterweg

Alfons

16 Nov 2011 / #42

See,the only difference between Poles in Poland and Poles abroad is that the latter have seen more and therefore have better judgement

You think your brighter for leaving to cower in your new sewers you create while you idotically disperse of ghetto thinking
All you learn is that you are generations of batty lickers wherever you go, home or abroad.
Get back to your cabbage patch, immigrant. We have our own grubs without importing them.

boletus 30 | 1356

16 Nov 2011 / #43

Look, you read me wrong, I am just trying to be as precise as possible. Why should I be aggressive against you? But in my world, hearsay does not count. Yes, perhaps you should have used a conditional guard "In my opinion", rather than jumping to the unconditional statement, as it were. Now let me explain, what I had in mind asking you about some statistical data.

Let start with this UK site, mentalhealthy.co.uk/news/775-hoarding---an-often-undiagnosed-mental-illness.html, where they show some USA pertinent estimates:

America is taking this condition very seriously with many past and current studies into hoarding as a disorder. The prevalence of clinically significant hoarding in the general population ranges from 2% to 5% and between 6 million and 15 million people in the U.S. are affected. This is according to recent epidemiological studies. Hoarding appears to affect more men than women although women are more likely to participate in research and to seek treatment.

This is actually a lot.

Another UK site talks about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which can be categorized as:

Checking, Contamination, Hoarding, Rumination/Intrusive Thoughts.

They give here a total estimation for all four cases in UK:

Here in the United Kingdom current estimates suggest that 1.2% of the population will have OCD, which equates to 12 out of every 1000 people, and based on the current estimates for the UK population, these statistics mean that potentially, approximately 741,504 people are living with OCD at any one time.

This is confirmed by another site:

It is an anxiety disorder which affects almost a million people in Britain; 2% of the population.

So there are some scientific statistics available, and perhaps if I spent much more time on the subject I could come with something even more valuable.

I tried to find similar estimates for Poland, but I failed - perhaps because lack of any serious research in this area? But if you want to give it a try yourself, then here are the Polish keywords you may wish to use for searching:

- Chomikowanie (hamstering). This word is the oldest one used to describe hoarding. Unfortunately it is mostly used nowadays for internet related activities - such as file sharing.

- Syllogomania
- Patologiczne zbieractwo (pathological gathering)

The bottom line however is that hoarding is an international trait. Statements like this

So you are still in the pink goggle stage, it is 100% a Polish national trait without question, in fact it is up their on the shelf with victimhood.

are simply ridiculous, as they go against statistics I quoted.

f stop 24 | 2493

16 Nov 2011 / #44

On one extreme there are hoarders, on another is a completely disposable society.

I do not save papers or magazines, but I do have a place for old strings and pieces of ropes! If your kids make a lot of collages, saving old magazines may make sense for a while. I don't think I'm on my way to becoming a hoarder, but who knows...

On the other hand I also have friends that will not save anything, including leftover food. They never have a pen when needed, or matches, or a screw. They don't mind going to the store every other day.

Either extreme is bad.

wildrover 98 | 4430

17 Nov 2011 / #45

Being a horder is not such a bad thing...

I live on a farm in the middle of a forest , and many a time i have been able to repair my cars and bikes with bits of stuff that most people in the towns would have thrown away...

Just last week i lost all the water from my Jeep when a hose burst.... A bit of Ursus tractor hose i found in my barn got cut to size and did the job just fine....Other wise i would have been driving miles to the nearest dealer for one....

Much of Poland is farm land , farmers do not throw anything away...so yes , Poles do hoard stuff..but as i say , its not such a bad thing...

OP Wedle 15 | 490

17 Nov 2011 / #46

are simply ridiculous, as they go against statistics I quoted.

You have provided no facts on Poland, only facts about the UK and USA. Your stand is, no qualified researched facts on hoarding exist regarding Poles, therefore it does not exist on that basis in the Polish psyche.I consider this a weak argument at best.

Boletus,there are no qualified researched facts on ' victimhood mentality' in Poland would you then go on to defend, it does not exist in Polish psyche?

We can conclusively state without argument ' victimhood mentality' is rooted in Polish psyche although no research papers exist supporting this argument, this is not disputing ' victimhood mentality' can also be found in many other countries in the world.It is therefore my opinion disposophobia is rooted in the Polish psyche, unless someone can provide me with three independent qualified research papers qualifying it does not exist in the Polish psyche.

On one extreme there are hoarders, on another is a completely disposable society.

Everything has an opposite, I also have a friend that I ski with most years in Poland, the first stop they want to make once they get off the plane is decathlan to but snow boot and all. Once they get back to the UK it is all disposed off, the argument they use to support this is, it is cheap in Poland. I am a firm believer in quality over quantity, you get what you pay for.