Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available. [1]
Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available. [1]
Civil unrest or the threat of natural disasters may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials that they believe will soon be in short supply. Survivalists, also known as preppers, often stockpile large supplies of these items in anticipation of a large-scale disaster event. [2] [3]
Other items commonly hoarded include coins considered to have an intrinsic value, such as those minted in silver, or gold, as well as collectibles, jewelry, precious metals [4] and other luxuries.
According to previous [5] studies, Anthropomorphism, or the propensity to attribute human characteristics to non-human items, has been associated with hoarding. Additionally, the findings stated that younger individuals had more substantial hoarding and anthropomorphizing cognitions and behaviors, and women demonstrated stronger early anthropomorphizing behaviors compared to men. [6]
The first documented case of hoarding was in the Collyer Mansion by the brothers Homer and Langley in 1947, New York. Their mansion became an attraction in 1938 because of the extreme level of accumulation and fortune found in their residence after their deaths. [7]
Individuals who meet the diagnostic criteria for hoarding disorder experience feelings of anxiety or discomfort about discarding possessions they do not need. This discomfort arises from an emotional attachment to possessions and a strong belief that their possessions will be needed in the future. Possessions will take on a sentimental value that outweighs their functional value. This is no different from someone without hoarding disorder; the difference lies in the strength of this sentimental value and in how many items take on a sentimental value. For this reason, when discarding items, hoarders may feel like they are throwing away a part of themselves. [8]
In severe cases, a house may become a fire hazard (due to blocked exits and stacked papers) or a health hazard (due to vermin infestation, excreta and detritus from excessive pets, hoarded food and garbage, or the risk of stacks of items collapsing on the occupants and blocking exit routes). [9] Thus, hoarding affects more than just the owner of the objects, as the state of a hoarded house can have a negative effect on all occupants and even neighbors. Furthermore, individuals with hoarding disorder may have a quality of life as poor as those diagnosed with schizophrenia. [10] Eventually, the disorder increases family strain, [11] work impairment, [12] and the risk of serious medical conditions. [13]
Hoarding disorder begins at an average age of 13 years old. [14] The general consensus is that men and women are equally prone to hoarding. [15] Hoarding can run in families, and it may be possible genetics play a role in developing hoarding behaviors. [16] Also, this behavior can be developed due to life circumstances such as difficult losses, depression, financial crises, and living small which make it difficult for people to get rid of their belongings. [14]
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, [17] the criteria for hoarding disorder boils down to five main points. Firstly, the hoarder experiences difficulty parting with items regardless of the item's value. Secondly, the hoarder feels a need to save items, and when they do part with them, it leads to strong distress. This, in turn, leads to objects cluttering the home to the point that living is compromised and rooms cannot be used for their intended purposes. If the house has not fallen into such a state, it is only because of outside parties intervening. Fourthly, the hoarding has compromised the hoarder's life in a clinically significant way, including an inability to maintain a safe living environment. Lastly, the diagnosis is only given if another psychological diagnosis does not fit better and there is no physiological reason to explain the hoarding. For an exact quote of the diagnostic criteria, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is available to the public. [18]
There are no medications currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating the symptoms of hoarding. Although, some medications, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), can be used off-label for individuals diagnosed with hoarding disorder. [19]
The primary treatment for hoarding disorder is individual psychotherapy. In particular, cognitive behavior therapy is regarded as the gold standard for treating the disorder. [20]
In the Divine Comedy , those who hoard are depicted as sinners locked in eternal battle with wasters. Overseen by Pluto (the former god of wealth now turned into a demon and that speaks in gibberish) they have to push heavy boulders (representing money) in opposite direction, each time the two lines of sinners meet they accuse and insult each other. The hoarders and wasters have been condemned to Hell for being unable to practice moderation with money. [21]
In William Shakespeare's play Coriolanus , Caius Marcius and his followers hoard grain, only sharing it with those they deem worthy. [21]
Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is a cluster C personality disorder marked by a spectrum of obsessions with rules, lists, schedules, and order, among other things. Symptoms are usually present by the time a person reaches adulthood, and are visible in a variety of situations. The cause of OCPD is thought to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors, namely problems with attachment.
Pornography addiction is the scientifically controversial application of an addiction model to the use of pornography. Pornography may be part of compulsive behavior with negative consequences to one's physical, mental, social, or financial well-being. While the World Health Organization's ICD-11 (2022) has recognized compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (CSBD) as an "impulsive control disorder", CSBD is not an addiction, and the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 (2013) and the DSM-5-TR (2022) do not classify compulsive pornography consumption as a mental disorder or a behavioral addiction.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also known in some contexts as dysmorphophobia, is a mental disorder defined by an overwhelming preoccupation with a perceived flaw in one's physical appearance. In BDD's delusional variant, the flaw is imagined. When an actual visible difference exists, its importance is disproportionately magnified in the mind of the individual. Whether the physical issue is real or imagined, ruminations concerning this perceived defect become pervasive and intrusive, consuming substantial mental bandwidth for extended periods each day. This excessive preoccupation not only induces severe emotional distress but also disrupts daily functioning and activities. The DSM-5 places BDD within the obsessive–compulsive spectrum, distinguishing it from disorders such as anorexia nervosa.
Hoarding disorder (HD) or Plyushkin's disorder, is a mental disorder characterised by persistent difficulty in parting with possessions and engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available. This results in severely cluttered living spaces, distress, and impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Excessive acquisition is characterized by repetitive urges or behaviours related to amassing or buying property. Difficulty discarding possessions is characterized by a perceived need to save items and distress associated with discarding them. Accumulation of possessions results in living spaces becoming cluttered to the point that their use or safety is compromised. It is recognised by the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5).
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main characteristics of the disorder suggest that kleptomania could be an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, but also share similarities with addictive and mood disorders.
Scrupulosity is the pathological guilt and anxiety about moral issues. Although it can affect nonreligious people, it is usually related to religious beliefs. It is personally distressing, dysfunctional, and often accompanied by significant impairment in social functioning. It is typically conceptualized as a moral or religious form of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). The term is derived from the Latin scrupus, a sharp stone, implying a stabbing pain on the conscience. Scrupulosity was formerly called scruples in religious contexts, but the word scruple now commonly refers to a troubling of the conscience rather than to the disorder.
Sexual addiction is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The concept is contentious; neither of the two major mainstream medical categorization systems recognise sex addiction as a real medical condition, instead categorizing such behavior under labels such as compulsive sexual behavior.
Diogenes syndrome, also known as senile squalor syndrome, is a disorder characterized by extreme self-neglect, domestic squalor, social withdrawal, apathy, compulsive hoarding of garbage or animals, and a lack of shame. Affected people may also display symptoms of catatonia.
Compulsive behavior is defined as performing an action persistently and repetitively. Compulsive behaviors could be an attempt to make obsessions go away. Compulsive behaviors are a need to reduce apprehension caused by internal feelings a person wants to abstain from or control. A major cause of compulsive behavior is said to be obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). "The main idea of compulsive behavior is that the likely excessive activity is not connected to the purpose to which it appears directed." There are many different types of compulsive behaviors including shopping, hoarding, eating, gambling, trichotillomania and picking skin, itching, checking, counting, washing, sex, and more. Also, there are cultural examples of compulsive behavior.
Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences. It "is experienced as a recurring, compelling and irresistible–uncontrollable urge, in acquiring goods that lack practical utility and very low cost resulting in excessive, expensive and time-consuming retail activity [that is] typically prompted by negative affectivity" and results in "gross social, personal and/or financial difficulties". Most people with CBD meet the criteria for a personality disorder. Compulsive buying can also be found among people with Parkinson's disease or frontotemporal dementia.
Hoarders is an American documentary reality television series that debuted on A&E on August 17, 2009. The show depicts the real-life struggles and treatment of people who suffer from compulsive hoarding disorder.
Behavioral addiction, process addiction, or non-substance-related disorder is a form of addiction that involves a compulsion to engage in a rewarding non-substance-related behavior – sometimes called a natural reward – despite any negative consequences to the person's physical, mental, social or financial well-being. In the brain's reward system, a gene transcription factor known as ΔFosB has been identified as a necessary common factor involved in both behavioral and drug addictions, which are associated with the same set of neural adaptations.
Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture. These patterns develop early, are inflexible, and are associated with significant distress or disability. The definitions vary by source and remain a matter of controversy. Official criteria for diagnosing personality disorders are listed in the sixth chapter of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (CSBD), is an impulse control disorder. CSBD manifests as a pattern of behavior involving intense preoccupation with sexual fantasies and behaviours that cause significant levels of psychological distress, are inappropriately used to cope with stress, cannot be voluntarily curtailed, and risk or cause harm to oneself or others. This disorder can also cause impairment in social, occupational, personal, or other important functions. CSBD is not an addiction.
David F. Tolin is an American clinical psychologist.
The psychology of collecting is an area of study that seeks to understand the motivating factors explaining why people devote time, money, and energy making and maintaining collections. There exist a variety of theories for why collecting behavior occurs, including consumerism, materialism, neurobiology and psychoanalytic theory. The psychology of collecting also offers insight into variance between similar behavior that can be recognised on a continuum between being beneficial as a hobby and also capable of being a mental disorder. The large diversity of different types of collected objects and variance of collecting behaviors across these types has also been subject to research in psychology, marketing and game design.
Jonathan Stuart Abramowitz is an American clinical psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). He is an expert on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders whose work is highly cited. He maintains a research lab and currently serves as the Director of the UNC-CH Clinical Psychology PhD Program. Abramowitz approaches the understanding and treatment of psychological problems from a cognitive-behavioral perspective.
The Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) is a 20-item self-report instrument that assesses the severity of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms along four empirically supported theme-based dimensions: (a) contamination, (b) responsibility for harm and mistakes, (c) incompleteness/symmetry, and (d) unacceptable (taboo) thoughts. The scale was developed in 2010 by a team of experts on OCD led by Jonathan Abramowitz, PhD to improve upon existing OCD measures and advance the assessment and understanding of OCD. The DOCS contains four subscales that have been shown to have good reliability, validity, diagnostic sensitivity, and sensitivity to treatment effects in a variety of settings cross-culturally and in different languages. As such, the DOCS meets the needs of clinicians and researchers who wish to measure current OCD symptoms or assess changes in symptoms over time.
Bunmi O. Olatunji is an American psychologist who is Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in Social Sciences at Vanderbilt University. He is Director of the Emotion and Anxiety Research Laboratory and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Vanderbilt University Graduate School. Olatunji studies the psychopathology of obsessive–compulsive disorder.
A hoarder house, or "garbage house", is a term in Japan for a building or a piece of land that is not intended to be a refuse dump, but where garbage is left piled up. In addition to the resident's own garbage, the resident may bring in trash from nearby garbage collection points or accumulate junk as if they were running a recycling business.
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