Hoarding disorder

Compulsive hoarding, also known as hoarding disorder, is a behavioral pattern characterized by excessive acquisition of and an inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects that cover the living areas of the home and cause significant distress or impairment. Compulsive hoarding behavior has been associated with health risks, impaired functioning, workplace impairment, economic burden, and adverse effects on friends and family members. When clinically significant enough to impair functioning, hoarding can prevent typical uses of space, enough so that it can limit activities such as cooking, cleaning, moving through the house, and sleeping. It can also put the individual and others at risk of fires, falling, poor sanitation, and other health concerns. Compulsive hoarders may be aware of their irrational behavior, but the emotional attachment to the hoarded objects far exceeds the motive to discard the items. Compulsive hoarding, also known as hoarding disorder, is a behavioral pattern characterized by excessive acquisition of and an inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects that cover the living areas of the home and cause significant distress or impairment. Compulsive hoarding behavior has been associated with health risks, impaired functioning, workplace impairment, economic burden, and adverse effects on friends and family members. When clinically significant enough to impair functioning, hoarding can prevent typical uses of space, enough so that it can limit activities such as cooking, cleaning, moving through the house, and sleeping. It can also put the individual and others at risk of fires, falling, poor sanitation, and other health concerns. Compulsive hoarders may be aware of their irrational behavior, but the emotional attachment to the hoarded objects far exceeds the motive to discard the items. Researchers have only recently begun to study hoarding, and it was first defined as a mental disorder in the 5th edition of the DSM in 2013. It was not clear whether compulsive hoarding is a separate, isolated disorder, or rather a symptom of another condition, such as OCD, but the current DSM lists hoarding disorder as both a mental disability and a possible symptom for OCD. Prevalence rates have been estimated at 2% to 5% in adults, though the condition typically manifests in childhood with symptoms worsening in advanced age, at which point collected items have grown excessive and family members who would otherwise help to maintain and control the levels of clutter have either died or moved away. Hoarding appears to be more common in people with psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Other factors often associated with hoarding include alcohol dependence and paranoid, schizotypal and avoidance traits. Compulsive hoarding in its worst forms can cause fires, unsanitary conditions such as rat and cockroach infestations and other health and safety hazards. Listed below are possible symptoms hoarders may experience: For many years, hoarding has been listed as a symptom or a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. People with OCD experience unwanted thoughts that incline them to do something repetitively. Some of these behaviors are excessive cleanliness and excessive toothbrushing. The current DSM says that an OCD diagnosis should be considered when: Compulsive hoarding does not seem to involve the same neurological mechanisms as more familiar forms of obsessive–compulsive disorder and does not respond to the same drugs, which target serotonin. In compulsive hoarding, the symptoms are presented in the normal stream of consciousness, and are not perceived as repetitive or distressing like in OCD patients. Despite statistics indicating that there is a prevalence of hoarding in 18% to 40% of patients with OCD, only 5% of compulsive hoarders experience symptoms of OCD. In another study, a sample of 217 patients diagnosed with significant hoarding, only 18% were diagnosed with OCD, as opposed to the 36% that were diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. There are significant differences and issues between the diagnostic features of compulsive hoarding and OCD which are being considered in a possible addition to the DSM-V of a new independent disorder such as compulsive hoarding. It is also said that there may be an overlap with a condition known as impulse control disorder (ICD), particularly when compulsive hoarding is linked to compulsive buying or acquisition behavior. Recent findings suggest that there may be three types of hoarding: pure hoarding, hoarding plus OCD (i.e., co-morbid OCD), and OCD-based hoarding. Given the aforementioned distinction, it was proposed to increase coverage of compulsive hoarding in the forthcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V), both by creating a distinct category for compulsive hoarding, provisionally named, Hoarding Disorder (either in the main manual under 'obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders' or in the appendix), and by including hoarding as a potential symptom of OCD. Bibliomania is a disorder involving the collecting or hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged. One of several psychological disorders associated with books (such as bibliophagy or bibliokleptomania), bibliomania is characterized by the collecting of books which have no use to the collector nor any great intrinsic value to a more conventional book collector. The purchase of multiple copies of the same book and edition and the accumulation of books beyond possible capacity of use or enjoyment are frequent symptoms of bibliomania. One of the most famous bibliokleptomaniacs in American history, Stephen Blumberg, never felt that he was doing anything wrong. 'Blumberg was trying to save a forgotten world from a system (the libraries) that neglected it.' Another was Gustav Hasford. (See Gustav Hasford#Library books theft charges.)