Hoarding Disorder treatment: What is Hoarding Disorder? How do we identify it?

Most people believe they understand what hoarding disorder is. In reality, unless you've seen it firsthand, your perception of it may probably be based on media representation. It is a serious mental health condition, which has especially spiked during the pandemic.

Mainstream media fails to convey the deeper psychological component of hoarding. The tendency to hoard frequently starts in youth and becomes worse with time, becoming problematic by the mid-30s. Those over 60 with additional mental health problems, particularly anxiety and depression, are more likely to suffer from hoarding disorders.

What is Hoarding Disorder? What are its Symptoms?

We tend to hoard things that we like, but those with the disorder hoard anything. (Image via Freepik/ Freepik)

A hoarder is someone who has so many possessions that they cannot control the clutter in their home and find it difficult or impossible to throw things away. You may hoard if you have a strong desire to hold onto stuff. Nonetheless, your association with these things may distress you. The effects of hoarding might change how you live every day.

The condition associated with hoarding is called hoarding disorder. It is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder and over time, it may get worse. With only a few narrow passageways squeezing past mounds of clutter, hoarding frequently results in severely crowded living spaces. Usually, there is clutter piled high on surfaces like desks, stairs, sinks, stoves, and countertops. Certain regions might not be usable for the purpose you had in mind.

The first signs of hoarding disorder frequently occur in adolescence or the early years of adulthood. It's possible to acquire and store too many things, which can lead to slow clutter buildup in living areas and trouble getting rid of stuff.

As you get older, you might keep acquiring items and preserving them even if you might never use them or have nowhere to put them. During middle age, clutter can become overpowering as the symptoms worsen and become more challenging to cure.

If you hoard, you might:

Difficulty throwing away possessions because you believe that you can save them. (Image via Unsplash/ Pawel)

Feel the desire to acquire more things even if you already have a lot of them
Have an extremely gratifying feeling if you get additional items
Feel extremely disturbed or frightened when you consider tossing or donating things because you have an emotional connection to them
Have a difficult time deciding what to keep and what to discard
You have trouble organizing your belongings
Have so much stuff that you are unable to use certain aspects of your home, such as the bed or the sink
Disagree frequently about your opinions with those who are close to you
You may pack far more items than you need for vacations or other travels because you struggle to prioritize your belongings

Collecting things and hoarding things are two different behaviors. Collecting particular items, such as comic books, money, or stamps, is typically a habit. They will be carefully chosen and usually arranged in a specific fashion. This kind of collection has no detrimental effects on your daily life.

Arranging objects in a way that makes them simple to use or access is not a part of hoarding. Items with little or no monetary worth, like scraps of paper or broken toys, are frequently hoarded by those who suffer from hoarding disorder. Their daily lives are also badly impacted by hoarding.

Hoarding Disorder Treatment Options

It is possible to live a healthier life, with the right resources. (Image via Freepik/ Freepik)

Many treatment alternatives can aid in reducing hoarding behaviors, enhancing the quality of life, making the home safer, and lowering the distress that comes with keeping or dumping stuff. They consist of:

1) Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy can assist a person to limit the number of things they acquire, practice sorting and tossing things, and use cognitive restructuring to question thoughts and beliefs regarding attachment to things.

2) Motivational interviewing (MI)

MI can boost motivation by assisting the subject in making the connection between their values and behaviors and their goals, as well as by providing suggestions on how to modify behaviors that are inconsistent with their values and goals.

3) Skill Development

This can assist people in learning how to arrange their possessions in their homes, utilize problem-solving techniques to handle the typical difficulties that come while tackling their clutter and make judgments regarding preserving necessary goods and getting rid of things that add to the clutter.

4) Medication

Some patients may find that taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication helps them engage in therapy by easing uncomfortable emotional states. While many would be surprised to hear about this, individuals with compulsive hoarding disorder feel pain after parting from their objects.

If you are trying to deal with a hoarding disorder, feeling overwhelmed is not uncommon. You might think that helping yourself will be too difficult or require too much time. If you're unsure of where to begin, starting small can still help you advance.

Even if you might find it difficult to talk about hoarding, it might be beneficial to do so. If you feel uncomfortable talking to someone close to you, reach out to one of the mental health organizations on our valuable contact list.

It's critical to keep in mind that hoarding disorder is a psychological condition that is not caused by a lack of effort or motivation. Like with any mental health problem, getting expert assistance as soon as signs of hoarding disorder start to show will lessen the impact on your life.

Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.

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