Just throw it away. How hard can it be?

Those words create major anxiety and deep fear in people who are hoarders.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of or seen the A&E television show Hoarders.

You've maybe even wondered yourself if you're just a packrat or a full-blown hoarder. Maybe you're married to an innocent clutter-bug, or know somebody who is “chronically disorganized.”

There are differences in all of these things, usually degrees of separation.

John Hart, cognitive-behavioral therapy specialist at the Menninger Clinic, said just 1 percent of the population are hoarders.

Hoarding, a form of obsessive compulsive disorder, is broken down into two phases, he said.

The acquiring phase is marked by people impulsively obtaining things they think they need or feel an attachment to, often items others would see as having little or no value.

The second phase is the compulsive inability to let those things go, because hoarders feel guilty, unprepared or even disloyal.

That's exactly what Houston resident Jane Cole had trouble with.

“Hoarders can't just throw things away,” Cole said. “Those things have to go to the right places. For me it was the teaching materials I had accrued over a period of 30 to 40 years. I invested time and money into those. They can't just go to any thrift group; it has to go to a specific group. You have to know those things will be respected and properly used.”

There is a difference between clutter and hoarding. Clutter, Hart said, is a state of disorganization, and people don't necessarily feel an attachment to all their stuff.

“They just have too much to do and haven't gotten around to tending to it,” Hart said. “They can throw things out without the emotional reaction of a hoarder. A hoarder, if you mess with their stuff, you will get a severe reaction from them, likely anger.”

Taking it up a notch are people who are “chronically disorganized,” said Ellen Delap, a Certified Professional Organizer and creator of the Clutter Support Group in Kingwood.

Delap said people who are chronically disorganized most likely have a time management issue, are usually always running behind, want to be organized but don't have the energy or time, and spend the majority of their time putting out fires instead of long-term planning.

Looking back on her teaching days, Cole would have described herself as chronically disorganized.

After her routine changed and she had to rotate through three different classrooms, Cole's disorganization reached a level to where she needed to hire someone to help her keep track of her teaching materials.

Delap said people who are chronically disorganized can develop hoarding tendencies over time. In some cases, this is triggered by depression, dementia, grief or loss.

That's what happened to Cole. After the death of her husband, her clutter was out of control.

“I started buying things,” Cole said. “I envisioned that I would need things to decorate the house. I was going to make craft projects. I brought things home from school I thought I would use again. I started filling up rooms.”

Eventually Cole had three storage units full of things, plus two rooms in her house, and her garage.

“If you lose the function of certain rooms or spaces in your house, you're hoarding,” Delap said. “If the collections are a safety hazard, like they block exits, create mold and things like that, you're hoarding.”

Cole began working with Delap and an OCD therapist five years ago in a team approach Delap said can be quite successful.

Delap helps Cole prioritize her things into three piles: save, keep or donate.

Delap has taught Cole that she can't bring something home unless she also gets rid of something, a lesson Cole is mastering.

But relapse is always a possibility.

Hart said relapse is a tricky subject in psychology in general, particularly so for OCD.

Calls for help usually come from a family member, Hart said, and it's most often family members who attend support group meetings.

Cole said she couldn't have made it this far without the support of others.

“It is still a struggle, it is always a struggle,” Cole said. “But don't struggle by yourself. You'll drown.”