Kentucky Ranks Among Top States for Hoarding Trends

Have you ever watched someone on Hoarders and thought, " How does it even get that far? Not in a judgmental way, more like how does a person live inside that kind of buildup and still get through daily life? Because it never starts that way. It never does. It starts with “I’ll deal with it later,” and suddenly, later is years deep. I never watch the show with disgust. I actually feel bad for the family and friends of the person they love.

And now some data puts Kentucky right in the middle of that conversation, whether people are talking about it or not.

Kentucky and the Clutter Conversation

A recent study from BOXIE24 examined Google searches related to clutter and organization, such as “how to declutter,” “storage unit near me,” and “minimalist apartment.” Kentucky landed at #10 in the country, with about 1.76 million related searches.

The study isn’t saying Kentucky has a hoarding problem in a clinical sense. People are searching for solutions. People are realizing their space doesn’t feel the way it used to. People are trying to reset things before they tip too far.

The data suggest it has less to do with a particular lifestyle and more to do with time. You stay somewhere long enough, and things build. Not all at once. Just steadily. One decision at a time that never gets undone!

There is More to Hoarding 

This is where people usually misunderstand it.

Hoarding disorder is a recognized mental health condition where someone has ongoing difficulty discarding possessions, even when those items don’t have real use or value anymore. Over time, it can fill living spaces to the point where they’re hard to use normally.

The American Psychiatric Association and International OCD Foundation describe it less as clutter and more as a problem with decision-making and emotional attachment.

For some people, getting rid of something doesn’t feel small. It feels like a loss or risk, even when it doesn’t make logical sense.

“Hoarding often begins with everyday clutter that gradually becomes harder to manage. In Kentucky, it’s less about limited space and more about how it builds over time as households stay in place longer.” — Gerrit Jan Reinders, decluttering expert and CEO of BOXIE24

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How it Starts

There’s no single reason.

Sometimes it’s anxiety and the loop of “what if I need this later.” Sometimes it’s grief or change, where objects become tied to memory or stability. Sometimes it’s depression, where decisions pile up faster than a person can handle them.

And sometimes it’s just accumulation over time, with years of not dealing with things in the moment.

The Mayo Clinic notes that hoarding behavior can also overlap with conditions like OCD or attention-related challenges, which makes organization and decision-making even harder to maintain.

Why Hoarding?

At a certain point, it stops being about clutter and starts being about function.

Rooms stop working the way they’re supposed to. Every day tasks take more effort. Space disappears so gradually that it’s easy not to notice until it’s already limited.

But what surprises people is that life outside the home often still looks normal. Work. Routines. Social life. It doesn’t always break everything at once.

The home becomes the one place where things quietly fall apart.

And because of that, people often pull back. Not out of neglect, but embarrassment. It gets easier not to let anyone see it.

Getting Help

Help doesn’t usually start with a full cleanout. That’s actually not the goal at first.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the main approaches. It focuses on decision-making, attachment to items, and building tolerance for letting things go.

Organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness also help families understand what’s going on and how to support someone without pushing too hard.

Progress tends to happen in small steps with professionals who understand hoarding. Not fast. Just steady. Everybody deserves to get the help they need to live their best lives.

My Final Thoughts

A lot of what gets kept around is sentimental. Things are held onto with the idea that children or grandchildren will want them someday. That someone down the line will see value in it all.

But that conversation is worth having now, not later. Because the reality is, many younger families today are living much more minimally. Less space, less interest in holding onto large amounts of “things,” even if they come from a good place.

It raises a simple question, even if it’s an uncomfortable one.

Are all those totes, boxes, and storage bins actually meaningful, or are they just waiting for someone else to sort through someday? Because eventually, someone will.

It's a conversation my husband and I have all the time. Can you relate?