Is Hoarding a Big Deal?

As the percentage of the older population in the United States continues to grow over the next few decades, social workers will likely encounter the behavior of hoarding more often in their work. Yet, many of us do not have expertise in dealing with this issue.

Tell us what you think. Is hoarding a mental health issue, or just a harmless quirk? When does the collector’s impulse cross over into pathological hoarding? If you’ve had clients or personal acquaintances who struggle with hoarding, please let us know. How have you dealt with this issue? What would you do differently, if anything, in the future?

If you’d like to learn more about this issue, take a look at the following article from NASW’s previous Practice Update:

Excerpt from “Hoarding in Later Life: When Things Start to Pile Up” published in the Aging SPS Practice Update, January 2003

Introduction
Over the past few years, media coverage involving hoarding cases has resulted in increased attention to this issue by the public and by researchers and has raised several pervasive questions: What causes certain individuals to hoard possessions? What characteristics do they share? How can social workers and other professionals effectively intervene on their client’s behalf while considering the needs of the community at large?

With the aging of our population, the incidence of hoarding in older adults is bound to become more prevalent, yet hoarding is still something we still know very little about. Although some research does exist on the subject of hoarding in adults, less is known about problems of hoarding with older people. Consequently, social workers seeking information and guidance about this area of practice often must rely on nonclinical resources, such as existing state laws, local ordinances, or popular literature, when considering how to develop an appropriate plan of care.

Hoarding can manifest itself in the excessive collection of household trash, newspapers, magazines, clothing, and even animals. In some instances, not only have reams of useless items been accumulated, but also an entire household may be brimming with items from floor to ceiling. All available living space, including every surface, countertops, chairs, sofas, bathtubs, sinks, coffee tables, desks, and beds, may become jam-packed with broken televisions, radios, boxes, containers, bottles, magazines, newspapers, bills, photos, expired coupons, food, and old clothes, leaving barely enough room to maneuver throughout the home.

The mental health community attributes hoarding behavior to a variety of both physical and psychological factors. Because hoarding behavior is seen in a variety of illnesses, it has been difficult to place definitively in a diagnostic category. It may be considered a mechanism for coping; a symptom of depression, anxiety, or substance abuse; a result of cognitive impairment; an obsessive–compulsive disorder; or a number of other possible conditions.

The studies that characterize hoarding as an obsessive–compulsive behavior might not be sufficient to address some of the reasons for hoarding in later life. Many experts believe that age-related illnesses are not the primary cause of hoarding but that the problem typically begins in childhood or adolescence. However, there is research that suggests that hoarding is a common symptom in older clients who are diagnosed with dementia (Steketee, Frost, & Kim, 2001).

Hoarding is more likely to be a problem when a person ages because older people tend
to have more difficulties in managing their collections of items. This difficulty can result
in the attention of neighbors, family members, the public health department, housing
authorities, the fire department, and the legal system.

Practice Implications
Hoarding is a multifaceted problem that stems from several deficits or difficulties (Steketee et al., 2001). These can involve difficulty with information processing, emotional attachments to possessions, and distorted beliefs about possessions. Avoidance of each of these problems can lead to extreme clutter. Hoarding is recognized as both a mental health issue and a public health problem. It is typically not an immediate crisis. The hoarding behavior usually occurs over a long period, and hasty interventions are not always the best solution to this problem.

Hoarding exhibited in later life can have serious implications. As a first step, social workers need to understand the risks of hoarding behaviors as well as some of the possible causes. For many older people who exhibit hoarding behaviors, extreme clutter can represent physical threats, including fire hazards, risks of falling, and unsanitary living conditions.

In such instances, social workers must grapple with a host of issues related to ethics and aging. This is not an easy task, because it brings to light issues related to a client’s right to self-determination, how much older people have the right to make choices about how they live, and if involuntary intervention is justified when the choices clients make are considered to be harmful to themselves or others.

Hoarding can be extremely difficult to treat. Interventions can range from no action at all
to involuntary intervention (such as the mass disposal of the person’s belongings). Involuntary cleaning of a client’s home is merely a temporary solution to the problem, because without client involvement and their investment in the intervention process there is a strong possibility that the cleared areas will eventually become re-cluttered.

In addition, people who tend to hoard frequently identify their possessions as central to their identities, and losing or disposing of a possession may produce extreme anxiety or a sense of loss and grief. Although involuntary interventions are not encouraged, they may be necessary to ensure that the client is not in immediate danger.

One of the most promising approaches to intervention appears to be cognitive behavioral
therapy, which combines the systematic restructuring of thought processes with
practical exercises aimed at reducing clutter. Effective treatment is likely to require a
variety of interventions, such as the use of medication, modification of faulty beliefs,
assistance with organizing and decision-making, and examination of emotional
attachment and behaviors that promote hoarding (Steketee et al., 2001).

Although hoarding remains a challenge for both social workers and their clients, it is
likely to become a condition for which more interventions are developed. Public awareness has brought hoarding to the attention of the mental health professions. As more cases associated with hoarding reach mental health professionals, new approaches are being developed to help those who are most vulnerable as a result of this disabling condition.

Tips for Intervening in Hoarding Situations
• Respect the meaning of and attachment to the possessions of the older adult
• Avoid being critical or judgmental about the older adult’s living environment
• Assess for safety and risk
• Assess for mental capacity
• Refer for medical and mental health evaluation
• Go slowly and expect gradual change
• Collaborate actively with the older adult in seeking solutions
• Avoid talking about the older person as if he or she is not present
• Validate the older adult’s fears of forgetting or losing items
• Consult and collaborate with other service providers and agencies
• Do not force unnecessary interventions
• Treat the older adult with respect and dignity.

References
Steketee, G., Frost, R. O., & Kim, H. (2001). Hoarding by elderly people. Health & Social Work, 26, 176–184.

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24 Responses to “Is Hoarding a Big Deal?”

  1. lavonn guthals Says:
    August 9th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    good article. I wrk in a nursing home and do have several residents who hoard. It is a problem.

  2. greg mcgann, lcsw Says:
    August 29th, 2008 at 11:41 am

    Interesting article on a difficult problem. For ten years I was an Adult Protective Investigator for the state of Florida. In that time I encountered many hoarders, most of them elderly. For all their commonalities many had characteristics that made each situation unique onto itself.
    Our state allows elders to live as they choose provided they demonstrate capacity, but that determination was often difficult to make, especially in the context of multiple ongoing cases with equally pressing problems and strict agency guidelines that mandated rapid closure of cases, safety be dammed. Frequently I tried to tease out a specific mental health diagnosis and ended up with a range including OCD, depression, dementia and schizophrenia.
    Depending on the specifics my interventions ranged from “hands off,” to seeking court ordered protective services.
    I did arrange and the state paid for a “deep cleanings,’ only to find the situation back to square one within a few months. This need is deeply entrenched in some.
    Ultimately I learned to base the decision on making an intervention on the current or potential risk to the health and safety of the individual although on some occasions the health and safety of other family members or neighbors had to also be considered.
    One aspect this article ignored was the ofen intense pressure brought on the Social Worker by relatives, public agencies including law enforcement and neighbors to “do something about the mess.”

  3. Kim Flowers Says:
    August 29th, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    Compulsive hoarding among the elder is a significant personal mental health issue and a public health issue. As an outreach clinician at an Area Agency on Aging, I have been working exclusively with this population for the past year, and have been trained and supervised by the Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW), the CBT program developed by Dr. Steketee. It can be very difficult to engage elders in CBT, but many components of the protocol can be applied with some success. A key seems to be building a strong and trusting relationshipVery few very elder adults self-identify as hoarders, some will agree that they are “packrats”, collectors or savers. The intervention can be effective, and is necessary if the older adult faces eviction or the home is being condemned. This should definitely be treated as a mental health problem, and we need to understand the individual’s reasons for hoarding, the role it serves in their lives, and “least intrusive” intervention for alleviating the public health and safety issues while we maintain the dignity, self-determination and control of the individual. I love this work, but there’s no doubt it’s difficult, time-intensive and very individualized. It’s also very important to have this capability available to keep these elders in their communiities and in the homes that they have owned for years. I am working with BUSSW to publish the findings of the program within the next couple of months.

  4. Amy Knight Says:
    August 31st, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    I work in long term care and have encountered hoarding. Currently, I am learning more about frontal temporal lobe dementias like Pick’s disease. The frontal lobe is the storehouse for social and emotional skills. If the hoarding is coupled with strange unexplainable behaviors, consider dementia. This might not change your intervention, but it will give you something to share with families who often feel a lot of embarassment and guilt related to unexplained things like shoplifting, hypersexuality, extreme lethargy, hoarding, and OCD.

  5. Cindi Vietmeier, LCSW Says:
    August 31st, 2008 at 11:15 pm

    I have several clients who hoard - all in NF’s and all in their 60’s. Also have an Aunt in her 80’s who would not allow anyone in her home - her behavior and dress seemed odd - I gained access to her home a year ago by “needing to use the bathroom”. The whole house was unsanitary including garbage piled in the kitchen and feces and urine in pans in the living room - the toilet was almost overflowing, bugs crawling all over. Besides this there was beer stocked (she never drank beer before), gatorade piled, tissues, loads of rotton tomatoes, bananas, etc.,. I gave her doctor a heads up and he admitted her for UTI -then she went to a NF. Because she was so private before I knew she would not allow help in the home now. To me, her symptoms fit Picks disease. Her long term and even short term memory is pretty good but she is obsessed with food - particularly candy and is unable to manage money (had 1 year of social security checks stacked in her home) or drive a car anymore (gets lost). In addition, she gets very angry at staff, cusses, and hits them at times if she does not get what she wants when she wants it. She is manipulative and lying. She hides fruit, candy, and other food throughout her room. All this from what used to be a sweet old aunt - she really still is at times. My issue is on testing. The doctors do not want to test saying nothing will change because of testing. Because I’m not her DPOA I have no say and the DPOA just does what the doctor says. The seroquel sure isn’t working or the Buspar. Seems to me testing might help and wouldn’t hurt. Besides - it gives the family an understanding of family medical history. In my opinion hoarding is a symptom of an underlying problem. I also think therapy with the elderly for hoarding is very difficult due to reduced ability to concentrate, lack of insight (which is huge), developed habits/routine, independence, memory deficits, reduced executive functions– To get that person to recognize change is necessary - huge endeavor! Any thoughts?

  6. Robin Dilg Says:
    September 2nd, 2008 at 11:56 am

    Over the last 20 years I have dealt with many hoarders. This is more than just a quirk or eccentricity. It is an inability to throw things away. Ironically, I am married to a hoarder! After 45 years of marriage I have found that he does not care if I dispose of his unneeded belongings just as long as he isn’t around and he doesn’t have to do it. I thought it was laziness or lack of organization but it is really an inability to part with things. So I do my annual dumpster each spring while he is at a conference and it works out just fine. I have had patients whose homes were a total fire hazard with newspapers stacked to the ceiling in every room with only an aisle to get to the bed and the refrigerator - frightening! I even had a lady who saved her own bowel movement - now that was an easy guardianship petition. When it becomes a health and safety issue it is causing self harm and clearly needs an intervention by adult protective services and the court. Some of my cases have been driven by the fire marshall who was going to have the person moved out or shut the apartment complex down. I was very thankful when this became a DSM IV category. It clearly was a mental illness related to the OCD types of illness. This illness clearly drives friends and family away and destroys the relationships that people so clearly need. The very fear of loss of belongings causes the greater loss of relationships which is probably how this all started, how ironic.

  7. Beth Koon Says:
    October 17th, 2008 at 7:59 am

    Thank you SO much for the article and everyone’s input. I, too, agree hoarding is a significant mental disorder which endangers the people who suffer from it. I first learned about it when I was asked to help my adoptive grandmother.

    Your blogs are not only validating, they are educational and helpful. NASW is terrific for allowing us to conduct professional dialogue regarding these issues.

  8. Jaimie, MSW Says:
    December 14th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

    I have always been very intrigued by all that affects the older adult population. Hoarding, seems to be yet another ailment that plagues this population’s homes and lives. I agree with many of the other comments classifying hoarding as a mental health issue. I had a client in the past, that I felt, defined herself through her belongings. By losing a belonging it was as though she was losing part of her own self, her own identity. I also felt that she was able to cope through the other losses in her life; death, physical disability, etc. by hoarding more and more items. She was particularly interested in garage sale findings. How I made sense of this particular client, of course, will not fit other older adults. But, I felt this helped me understand what she was experiencing, enabling me to clinically identify the underpinnings of her compulsive hoarding.

  9. Colette Robicheau Says:
    December 15th, 2008 at 6:18 am

    I would like to suggest the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization as a resourse -www.nsgcd.org. This group works with professional organizers and relatd professionals.
    The NSGCD explores, develops and disseminates organizing methods, techniques, approaches and solutions that will benefit chronically
    disorganized people.

  10. Laura Stamboni Says:
    December 16th, 2008 at 12:33 am

    I am so excited that there is a forum for such discussions through NASW. I have worked with a variety of populations who have hoarding behaviors. Recently, I worked with a 40 year old woman, with a tumor in the frontal lobe. She had poor self-care/hygiene motivation and initiative (neither of these areas were picked up in neuropsych testing a year prior and I since asked for a re-test by another evaluator. I noted that she hoarded matchbooks (as she was a chain smoker) and M&M wrappers both in her pocketbook. She has poor insight as to why she has these behaviors and again question the role (if any) the temporal lobe may have in her hoarding behaviors.

  11. Robyn Deutsch Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    Hoarding can lead to safety issues if there is not enough awareness of a patients medical history. Self-determination provides patients with the feeling they still have independence, but with careful interventions when safety is an issue there are ways to maintain safety and still maintain self-determination. The example I have is from a patient I was working with in a Nursing Home who went to the secretary to obtain money from her monthly check and was found going to the snack machine and taking out as much junk food as she could fit on her lap in her wheelchair. As a team, one of her nurses noted to me that she is diabetic. Cognitively she was declining and had no family to manage her money. The process of getting Guardianship was in place, but the key element was to protect her from increasing her blood sugar which puts her at high risk medically. At the same time helping her feel like she still had some control over things was important as being a long term resident in a nursing home it is common for patients to feel you have lost so much independence. Therefore, the intervention was to help her understand in easy terminology what negatively could happen if she ate the junk food. This discussion allowed for her to realize that by giving the staff her junk food she would be less at risk for harming herself. While waiting for the Guardian process to go through, the plan was to still allow her to take money from her account, but only once weekly and for very small amounts. There was also careful coordination between the secretary and the Social Workers when she asked for money and for what purpose so there could be monitoring and helpful interventions if she wanted to use money for reasons that revolved around poor judgments. This still gave her independence, but at the same time protected her from spending a lot and for reasons that were about poor judgments. Over time she got used to the structure and led to maintaining her health. All conversations with her were spoken in dignified ways, with patience, and strategies that eased her comfort and trust in letting the professionals help her without feeling her hoarding was something that is shameful.

  12. Mary aka Panda Picks Blog Says:
    January 15th, 2009 at 11:09 pm

    There are several reason that hoarding shows up in the life of seniors.

    >>We were raised in the shadow of the recession and taught not to waste anything.

    >>We took keepsakes of 2 sets of parents and some grandparent .

    >>As we age we may have less capability to make decisions

    >>Fear that we may actually need these things so as not to have to go purchase new.

    >>In ability to find things

    >>large houses where the empty nest made it convenient to store more stuff

    >> our generation had so much to want and so much we were able to buy. we were the first generation bombarded by advertising of more and more, bigger better items.

    I consider hoarding a problem when it endangers the hoarder and those around them. Health and safety first.

  13. Mary aka Panda Picks Blog Says:
    January 15th, 2009 at 11:32 pm

    I realize that I gave excuses for hoarding, one of the symptoms of hoarding. I would like to clarify that there are degrees of hoarding. I also see all the comments are from professionals in the mental health field.

    As a child I was exposed to the mild form by my mother. We did not live in danger nor was there a safety issue. I recognized my problem when the children were gone and I set out to fill all shelves, cupboards, and level spaces. Two years ago I downsized which forced me to part with a lot of useless things. It felt good to have fewwer things to take care of.

    This winter I read a book on hoarding which promted me to begin another round of disposing of things. I have the symtpoms but am able to keep hoarding under control. I do see it as a mental health issue for me and believe there is corellation to depression. If left unchecked hoarding will isolate us from people as we don’t want others in our homes. When able to dispose of things I feel so much better—-a kind of freedom, a release of anxiety as to what to do with things.

  14. Forrest Hong, LCSW Says:
    February 18th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Great comments. Would agree that most of the time the issue is related to mental health symptoms - especially anxiety related symptoms. I have had hoarders keep everything from rocks, alcohol, and even feces. Most of the time, it required separating the adult from the environment. Depending on their cognitive functions, talk therapy had some benefit, but generally, I have found it very difficult to modify the behaviors.

    I would agree with the comments that all of us have to some degree, hoarding behaviors. So the deciding factor for me is to what degree is the hoarding an issue of safety. Collecting rocks is not so bad unless they are piled up in a room waiting to roll down on top of someone during an earthquake (CA), as opposed to the lady collecting and hiding her feces.

  15. Kiku Says:
    April 3rd, 2009 at 7:34 am

    Just like to share this with you, finally picked up courage to look it up and came upon your site. I have just been to see Disability rights charity to get some help. This is the first time someone has asked me if I hoard, something I have been questioning for a long time. I put it down to having grown up in poverty, not having many possesions, having to say goodbye to my country of birth, not finding the time to sort things out, cant bear to throw things away, especially arty stuff, put it down to being a creative person, soon as there is a clear surface I feel it up like an artists canvas!!
    When my husband throws stuff out I dont miss it, its is far less painful for me.
    I have suffered from depression since I was 19.
    Hopefully this is my first step.

  16. Beckie Bobilya Says:
    April 21st, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    my mother is a hoarder and its very frustraiting to her grown kids she seems to go on binges after major losses. She has lost my brother 5 yrs ago to suicide and my sister died this last dec on her birthday in a house fire , The fire started because my sister was also a hoarder she died because she could not get out of her cluttered house fast enough the door was buried
    so we have been very impacted with this illiness and we feel it is a illinesss
    they are in total denial my mom has no counter space and no bedrooms for us to stay in in her 6 bedroom 3000 square foot house . she also is hoarding food and sweets every day she goes to the store and has 6 to 10 bags of food to bring in from her car ,ashe has gained 80 pounds last yr after her husband died last yr she went
    to her sisters in florida. so my sisters and I started cleaning and throwing we had her house so nice and clean when she got home just to have her blank expression of oh my god instead of joy thats when we knew that she was ill with what ever is going on it seems to be triggered with loss and not being able to cope and show emotion. We know our mother loves us but we have yet to see her cry over the loss of our brother and sister , I am going over to clean and throw again today because I refuss to have my mother barried alive . Oh and one of us needs to move in with her to not let her be alone
    just none of us can stand the mess. thanks for your insight on this very perplexing illness.. I love your web sight

  17. lionel Says:
    April 24th, 2009 at 6:57 am

    Maybe you can help me deal with the situation I’m confronted with right now.
    My so is a chronic hoarder.
    We’ve been living together for 17 years now, but our relationship is on the brink of breaking off, for other reasons as well, but the 1st and foremost reason is her bad habit.
    About 70% of my flat as well as the cellar and even the garage are full of clutter, and although she told me she would clean her act, I believe she is in complete denial of her condition of hoarder.
    It’s making my life more and more miserable.
    I told her a week ago that ultimately she would have to chose between me and her clutterings.
    And now I’m taking things into my own hands and start to remove some stuff.
    I think she needs to go to the shrink!

  18. Stacie Hebert Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    Thanks, Kiku, for providing insight from a client’s point of view.

    Thanks to all for the great discussion on this issue!

  19. Dan Says:
    June 16th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    My parents, both in their mid 80s, are virtual prisoners in a house that they cannot sell, because my mother is incapable of disposing of old clothes, magazines, etc. She has a number of minor but painful ailments that she says prevent her from sorting through the many piles. She becomes tearful whenever I try to talk about the problem with her. She is an educated woman who has studied psychology, but she insists that she knows what her problem is. If you have any suggestions for me, I would be grateful.

  20. Susan Sayler Says:
    August 22nd, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    Reading all of the above comments has really made an impact on me. I appreciate whoever it was that created this website. There should be a group called Adult children of Hoarders anonymous. Or Hoardanon.

    What I don’t understand is why I have so many hoarders in my life. I am divorced from a man who hoarded literally every thing he touched. His mother was exactly the same way. I had no idea that he had the problem when I first met him until after we were married and we bought a house. At that point he went to the city that he lived in before we were married and brought back flat bed trucks full of junk from his parents property. He had the ultimatum from his dad who was also coping with his mother’s same problem.

    I am single now and I have to say that when I meet a man, and I see that he has a tendency to hoard, that is the only thing I need to know to decide to move on.

    But now I find myself in a very miserable situation. It has been very hard for me to get a job and finally I was hired. But the man who hired me has stacks of stuff all over the floor and hoards magazines, flyers, all the notes he writes, and he writes tablets-ful daily. My job is to sort out his clutter. And, you guessed it, when I throw stuff away he gets really upset.

    Every hoarder that I know says that they need help with sorting and organizing the clutter. I think I know 6 hoarders in all, and every one of them uses the excuse that no one will help them sort the clultter for why they have not gotten rid of it. But if you are not a hoarder and have had to live around one, you know that you can’t help them sort it. Most of the time they have to have it all out so they can see where it is. They aren’t particularly prone to putting this away at all - not ever.

    The psychology of the hoarder is fascinating, even if it is frustrating. In my new relationships with hoarders, I have taken the position that they should not try to get rid of the stuff, but rather, just invest in warehouses to store it all. What I think is fascinating is that all 6 hoarders that I know balk at this practical idea and say “No, I need to get rid of this stuff - but I have to sort it out first. I am afraid that if I throw it away, I will end up needing it.”

    But then they never do get around to sorting it all out. Not ever. And if you start throwing their stuff away, they get really emotional and they go into a panic.

    When I read that hoarding was not ‘learned’ but rather it is caused by damage to the frontal lobe, it really confirmed what I had suspected was the case. The damage to the front lobe results in the inability of the front lobe to correctly ‘communicate’ with the other parts of the brain. These people can’t help what they do, and they have no understanding of it themselves.

    This research helped me so much to understand these hoarders. You can sit down and talk to them hours and hours about their hoarding, and their otherwise normal brain and intelligence will just hit a brick wall dead end. I think that they say things like “I may need it in the future” because they are just guessing at why they do it. They don’t really know that they don’t know why they do it!

    Hoarders don’t really know why they are hoarding, and all they do know is if they don’t, they experience discomfort at a primal and hard to grasp onto part of their being.

    There was a point when I knew that my husband would not change and I had to decide whether I could live with him. We had a chest freezer full of meat. The power went out while we were on vacation and all the meat in the freezer spoiled. My husband would not let me throw away the spoiled meat and it stunk to high heaven even when it wasre- frozen. Everytime I went to the freezer I had to inhale that rotten smell of meat and finally I just gave up and divorced him.

    When I wound up with a boss who hoards, I went into shock. I can’t believe I am involved again with a hoarder. So today I had a long talk with a close friend of mine. I told her that I am going to tell my boss this: I will handle all paperwork as it comes in. But I am not going to sort through any of the stuff in piles all over the floor. I can see clearly that this is a no win situation because if the piles get sorted wrong, and if I throw anything out, I am not doing my job. I am going to tell my boss that I am not inside his mind, and therefore I can’t place the relative value on any of the books, magazines, flyers, brochures, tables of writing, business cards etc. If he decides to fire me, I accept that even though I desperately need a job right now. I am not going to live with tihs kind of sickness in my life anymore.
    Thanks for letting me share!
    Susan

  21. AMELIA Says:
    September 23rd, 2009 at 9:58 pm

    I have a question about hoarders. I can somewhat understand the collecting and not throwing anything away, but I can’t understand the filth and nastiness. Why don’t hoarders clean their houses and just stack all their things in nice neat stacks. Why do they live in squalor? Can’t they smell their home?

  22. Angelyn Says:
    September 30th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    I have 2 female clients, ages 70 and 78, who have hoarding, as well as other characteristics, in common. They are both compulsive over-eaters and have a diagnosis of ADD. Their speech is rambling, displaying difficulty focusing. Both have a skewed relationship with money and try to buy relationships with their children. Both have boundary issues with their daughters. Both have been in some form of therapy for years. Both also have a history of deprived and chaotic childhoods, one abusive. Both recognize they have a problem with clutter and would like to decrease it but have not been able to. One is to the point that a case manager has arranged an involuntary clean-out because of the danger. The clutter interferes with their social lives, as they are ashamed to have guests in their homes. It also interferes with their relationship with husband and significan other. I wonder if others have observed this syndrome of characterisics: hoarding, ADD, compulsive eating, intrusive relationships.

  23. Ron L Says:
    November 19th, 2009 at 5:27 am

    I have a relative who is showing these symptoms. - Thanks for the article and all the responses. (Apparently, I’ll have to watch for this in myself and other family members!)

    I would throw out a personal thought…
    Meditating on Buddhism’s impermanence and non-attachment concepts.
    (My favorite book so far is “Breath By Breath” (Rosenberg))

  24. Dianna Says:
    November 22nd, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    This may not be hoarding but I do seem to keep many things but because of social reason I do store everything I keep neatly in boxes and put into storage rooms. I grow an attachment to that item as if it’s a person and it has feelings and if I throw it away it would be hurt. As a child many toys were thrown away by my mother if I misbehaved. As a teen she would throw away my favorite clothes or shoes, etc. When I started driving she let me buy a car only to carry my brothers and sisters to school. I did work and pay for the car and insurance. One night I had a date and we went to a party because I was 1 hour late she took the car and sold it and the boy that bought it wrecked and totaled the car. I love that car. So now it is very hard for me to throw away anything I just hide it in a box. If you were to come to my home you would never guess.

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