Interesting topic! I always remain critical toward my personal collecting behaviour, does it not exceed the limits of sanity (~50+ airguns)? The web gives interesting indications of the pathology involved. Actually Hoarding & The collecting disorder are considered separate disorders. There is always a chance we as airgun collectors develop a Collecting disorder. But the symptoms are quite severe and easy to recognise, with an unusable living space as an example (see below, source:
www.hulpgids.nl, translation). I think however there might be a spectrum of combinations possible.
'...Hoarding means persistent difficulties with disposing of belongings. Hoarding is a new diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5).
- Hoarding must be distinguished from ordinary collecting: hoarding causes stress, problems and conflicts and can lead to dangers for third parties (eg health, fire).
- In contrast, for collectors there is fun and structure and collecting is often a social activity.
- In the case of the collecting disorder, there is a pathological difficulty in disposing of belongings or to be able to say goodbye to them, to such an extent that living spaces can no longer or hardly be used. Due to the frequent overlap with certain impulse regulation disorders, the generally limited treatability and the poor prognosis, it has been agreed to consider the collection disorder as a separate disorder...'