Hoarding Clinical Syndrome: Symptoms and Therapy

Hoarding is a clinical syndrome that affects millions of people across the United States. This disorder can have devastating consequences not only for the individual struggling with this condition, but also to those close to them and the community. Clutter in the homes of people with hoarding problems is extremely disorganized resulting in unhealthy and hazardous living conditions. Individuals with compulsive hoarding problems show lack of awareness of the severity of their behavior. They deny the problem, resist help that is offered to them, and fail to follow through with treatments.

Generally, the cause of hoarding is difficult to understand. However, its underlying causes appear to include family history, genetic tendency, and environmental factors such as traumatic life events. Reports indicate that hoarders are more likely to have first-degree relatives with hoarding symptoms (Walter and Zsuzsa, 2007).

A study on a sample of a large number of twins (N=5,022) showed that hoarding is highly prevalent and heritable (Iervolino et al., 2009). From these findings, it is reasonable to believe that children inherit, along with their parents” genes, their parents, and the places they live in. Not surprisingly, family upbringing greatly affects an individual’s personality. Children who are living with a parent or parents with hoarding behaviors are more likely to become hoarders themselves. Compulsive Hoarding Compulsive hoarding has been defined as the acquisition of, and failure to, discard possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value (Frost & Hartl, 1996). Hoarding occurs in about one-quarter to one-third of all OCD cases (Frost & Hartl, 1996). Compulsive buying is more frequent among people who hoard than among control participants (Frost et al., 1998).

Symptoms:

• Inability to throw away things;
• Anxiety when trying to throw something away;
• Difficulty organizing a certain area;
• Cannot decide where to put things;
• Stressed out about certain possessions to throw away;
• Don’t like for anyone to touch certain things;
• Obsessive of needing an item they are throwing away;
• Inactive social life, financial difficulties, family and love life, and health hazards. Treatment Psychotherapy, also called talk therapy, is the primary treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most common form of psychotherapy used to treat hoarding disorder. Try to find a therapist or other mental health professional with experience in treating hoarding disorder.

As part of cognitive behavioral therapy, you may:

• Learn to identify and challenge thoughts and beliefs related to acquiring and saving items;
• Learn to resist the urge to acquire more items;
• Learn to organize and categorize possessions to help you decide which ones to discard;
• Improve your decision-making and coping skills;
• Declutter your home during in-home visits by a therapist or professional organizer;
• Learn to reduce isolation and increase social involvement with more meaningful activities;
• Learn ways to enhance motivation for change;
• Attend family or group therapy;
• Have periodic visits or ongoing treatment to help you keep up healthy habits;

Treatment often involves routine assistance from family, friends and agencies to help remove clutter. This is particularly the case for the elderly or those struggling with medical conditions that may make it difficult to maintain effort and motivation.