Essay On Hoarding

Millions of people in the United States suffer from a psychological disorder called hoarding. The definition of hoarding according to medical and psychological professionals is defined “as the acquisition of and inability to discard items even though they appear (to others) to have no value” (Frost & Gross, 1993). “Clinically significant compulsive hoarding is quite common, with a prevalence of 4%–5% in the population”. (Mueller, Mitchell, Crosby, Glaesmer, & de Zwaan, 2009; Samuels et al., 2008). “Hoarding and saving symptoms are part of a discrete clinical syndrome that includes the core symptoms of difficulty discarding, urges to save, excessive acquisition, and clutter, as well as indecisiveness, perfectionism, procrastination, disorganization, and avoidance”. (Steketee & Frost, 2003). A complex psychological disorder, hoarding effects the individual, family and communities. The following is a brief overview of the hoarding condition, diagnosis, and its effect on lives and treatments that can be helpful.

Hoarding is a unique condition beyond the collection of items. It is not like your usual collector or enthusiasts, such as a stamp collector or coin collector. People afflicted with this condition often collect items that have no value or excessively hold on to items, as a means of comfort. This desire becomes very overwhelming and can be attributed to the need to control people, places or things. For some, it starts to become an emotional response of trying to replace something that you might have lost either as a kid, or maybe a loved one later in your life. Hoarding used to be classified as a subtype of (OCD) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and (OCPD) or Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. According to Jim Hatton’s...

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...available. I have come to the realization that this topic is much more personal then I had originally thought. It was very interesting to find out how common this disorder really is. I currently live with an older relative who has a lot of these symptoms that I researched in this paper. I have realized truly how the hording disorder does affect family members who live with the person with the disorder. It makes the person without the disorder become embarrassed of the living situation. It tends to make the individual want to isolate or not invite anyone over due to being annoyed with living situation. The frustration of wanting to be of help, but when offered the help is denied by the person with the disorder. I have learned that an individual has to be ready and willing for treatment. It is my hope that one day my family member will get the help she needs.