Hoarding

Hoarding is accumulating a clutter of possessions that are of no use or value to the point that it disrupts an individual’s life and the lives of their family, friends, and neighbors. Commonly hoarded items are newspapers, magazines, bags, boxes, clothing, food and supplies. Compulsive hoarding interferes with the individual’s ability to make simple decisions concerning sanitation, working, eating, and sleeping. Signs of the onset of a hoarding disorder include avoiding the discarding of items, making decisions about organizing the accumulated items, having fears of running out of items for later use, and distrusting persons who are concerned about the collection of items. Hoarding disorder symptoms are found to be most common in aging…

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders: Hoarding Disorder within the Geriatric Population Samuels et al. (as cited in Ayers et al., 2014a, p. 741) suggests that hoarding is present in 5.3% of the population; although, this rate may be greater among the geriatric population. In the long-term care setting, many geriatric clients often hold on to items of sentimental value such as a prized pocket watch or a treasured family photo as a reminder of the past. Keeping these items are often…

Prepping: Can It Lead To Hoarding? It can for a very small percentage of people, and like any condition described as a disorder there are varying degrees. We all "hoard" to some extent, but most of us would never get to the point where we would be eligible to get on the reality show Hoarding: Buried Alive. Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the…

unable to see the extent of their hoarding. The impulses that a hoarder has are perceived as normal in their mind. Outsiders see the extent and are appalled at the extreme conditions. Hoarders keep items that they believe they will use, but in reality many of the items are irrelevant because the hoarder has never used in them in the past and will not in the future. Many hoarders bring in the items that the average individual brings home such as bills, newspapers, receipts, magazines, clothes,…

This paper explores “Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding: A Case Study” published by Lilit Pogosian in 2010. Pogosian claims that the subject, “Dee”, had a successful intervention using specific CBT strategies and individualized exposure and response prevention (ERP) specially targeted to treat the characteristic features of compulsive hoarding. The progress Dee makes during the study suggests that the treatment plan described provides better results and response to treatment in patients with…

Hoarding is having a difficult time discarding or parting with possession, regardless of their actual significance of the item. Hoarding will diminish the quality of life of the person living within the environment. The lack of functional living space, unhealthy or dangerous conditions that hoarders. They often go without heat or other necessary comforts because they don’t want anyone in their home. The hoarder’s way of life could lead to separation or divorce, eviction, and even the loss…

Hoarding: It’s More Common Than We Think When I called a few friends about having a yard sale, I jokingly stated that I did not want to become a hoarder. Everyone knew exactly what I meant because, in recent years, pop culture has become fixated on hoarding. Reality shows have sprung up depicting the lives of people trapped with their belongings. This sparked my curiosity to find out more than just a passing interest in hoarding. What Is Hoarding? According to…

Hoarding disorder in the elderly has received extensive coverage in newspapers, digital media, and television shows. For many years it was considered either the crazy junk-loving person’s disease or an older person’s disease. Most studies conducted were reporting about hoarding that starts in childhood adolescence and then progressing into mid-life, but then the information stopped for lack of reporting of late life hoarders. There are studies, but they lacked credible information because the…

In 1998, a study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of hoarding behavior in patients with dementia and characteristics associated with it. The study of 133 dementia patients in a geropsychiatric ward revealed that 22.6% of those patients showed signs of hoarding. The patients showed a higher prevalence of pilfering, hyperphagia, and repetitive behaviors. The study suggested that hoarding behavior is a common and complex symptom in dementia patients (Hwang et al., 1998). Hoarding may…

According to Büscher, Dyson & Cowdell, (2013), hoarding can have a detrimental effect on the physical and psychological health of family members including children. As mentioned earlier in the background, multiple studies have concluded that children who reside in a hoarding environment with their parent (s), are confronted with equal safety and health risks as their parent (s) who include: poor nutrition, higher risks of injuries in relation to slips and falls, chronic headaches and respiratory…