Hoarding

Many people ask what is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? This condition is an anxiety syndrome in which the victims have obsessions (recurring, unwanted ideas, sensations, or thoughts), which make them compulsive (driven to do something repetitively). Such repetitive behavior, which includes cleaning or checking on things, constant washing of hands, can considerably impede an individual’s...

All About Hoarding Right now, there are more than 1.2 million compulsive hoarders in the U.S. alone. What is a “compulsive hoarder”? Medical dictionaries note that the condition affects anyone who exhibits an uncontrolled need to buy or somehow acquire large numbers of items for no clear, logical reason. To make matters worse, the conditions...

Who Hoards, and Why? This post is not to be confused with the fantastic and very helpful online website titled Children of Hoarders (COH), but rather my observations in dealing with actual children of hoarders. Not many people know what goes on behind the closed doors of hoarders. However, because of the work we do...

What Is Hoarding Disorder? What You Can Do? Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s house. I would go to her house right after school, and sometimes I would even spend the night with my two other cousins. I would also spend the weekends there if my parents had to work....

Determining the Difference Between Clutter and Compulsive Hoarding Can be Difficult It can be tricky to look at a messy house or room and know whether it’s the result of a messy person or a compulsive hoarder. No two homes are alike, and everybody has a different idea of what they consider to be “cluttered.”...

The Do’s and Don’ts of Helping Hoarders If you’re working to help a loved one address a hoarding problem, it’s important to address the issue in an intentional and sensitive way. Although you may have initially approached the problem from of a place of concern, frustration, or even anger, the hoarding behavior can only be...

What is Hoarding? More than just a subject of fascination on recent popular TV shows, hoarding is a disorder where a person finds extreme difficulty in throwing away or parting with certain items that others may view as having little or no worth. This excessive saving of items often leads to extreme accumulation of clutter...

When many people think about hoarders, they envision homes stacked from floor to ceiling and wall to wall with every manner of debris and garbage a person can stuff into a given space. At its extreme, this is a realistic definition of hoarding. But, as with most everything in life, hoarders come in many degrees,...