Is compulsive hoarding a medical disorder, or just someone being lazy? This is not about blame – it is about understanding and support. If you’ve ever walked into a home and felt piles of newspapers, boxes, or household items overwhelming you, you are not alone.
Some of our friends may be too busy to tidy their homes. Others may rate domestic chores way down on their priorities. But there’s another reason why their homes may be full of clutter …
Clutter is the accumulation of so many things that we can’t use our rooms properly. Our everyday life becomes harder. We can’t let go of things. The very thought of doing so overwhelms us.
More About Clutter and Compulsive Hoarding
Clutter, in the context of compulsive hoarding, is the outward sign of a much deeper and more worrisome problem. If it affects a friend, you may want to know whether compulsive hoarding is a medical disorder, a mental-health issue, or something else.
Compulsive hoarding, when strictly defined in clinical terms, is a mental health condition. This disorder is not a disease or a sickness though. It is a style of living that may prevent people using their homes in the customary fashion, if hoarding spins out of control.
However, the American Psychiatric Association does not define compulsive hoarding as a medical disorder. Instead, it speaks of a life style that accumulates possessions because of a conviction they have a future use.
The thought of throwing clutter away distresses a hoarder. This is one of several reasons why they keep items that may have no value in terms of what we think.
So Hoarding Is Not a Medical Disorder?
If only life was so simple! That answer begs another question, because it does not tell the whole story. If compulsive hoarding is not a medical disorder then what is it?
The truth is closer to a hybrid condition. Hoarding often reflects elements of psychological (mental), neurological (physical) and social (community) drivers. There are characteristic signs in brain, spinal cord, and nerve functioning. But there are also typical personality traits, for example indecisiveness and perfectionism.
Are We Born With Hoarding?
Perhaps, perhaps not. We do know that hoarding tends to run in families, so perhaps we inherit it. But we also know that stressful life events can trigger hoarding too. This supports the theory that the behaviour is partly biological, partly psychological, and partly shaped by life experience.
Adding the Age Factor to the Mix
Hoarding may first become evident in adolescence, although at this stage it does not affect lifestyle. Other factors appear later as we age, such as mobility issues, loss of loved ones, fading memories and reducing social contact. All these can allow clutter to accumulate.
Public-health studies correlate age-related hoarding with housing insecurity, social isolation, and increased risk of falls. The majority of hoarders in England live alone. This makes it more difficult to identify them, treat them, and understand them.
If compulsive hoarding is a medical disorder – and this is still the subject of debate – then it is at least partly age-related along with arthritis and failing sight and hearing.
So Is Hoarding a Medical Condition or Not?
If ‘medical’ means that the body plays a role, then the answer is at least ‘partly’. This is provided the outward signs line up, and the condition affects the hoarder’s quality of life.
Hoarding is NOT the result of a hoarder’s fault, laziness, or a moral failing. Social attitudes that shame people who hoard, make it harder for them to ask for help.
If We Are Worried About a Hoarder
We set the previous paragraph in italics, because families and friends should know that shouting matches frequently backfire. The end result is more likely to drive a hoarder deeper into secrecy and embarassment.
That’s vitally important for families and friends to remember. An aggressive approach usually backfires, and deepens secrecy and shame.
Wrapping Up: Helping People Who Hoard
The general consensus is that compulsive hoarding is a medical disorder, that benefits from psychological treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can reduce the severity of hoarding, according to research.
However, this is not necessarily a permanent fix on its own. Many hoarders require ongoing treatment combined with practical help decluttering. One thing is for sure though. An early, empathetic intervention produces better results than forced decluttering, which often increases distress.
Helping a Hoarder You Know
Your practical take away, as s friend or family member, is hoarding needs specialized psychological treatment. By all means support the idea of seeking out professional help. Meanwhile, you can lend a hand to make the home safer if you wish.
Perhaps, above all other things, we should move on from blame towards evidence-based care. If you’re worried about someone, your single best step could be to get a professional assessment, and approach the person with compassion rather than criticism.
More Information
Get Professional Help Clearing Away Clutter
Secrets About Hoarding You May Not Know
If anyone has a hoarding addiction/problem, Jeff & his team can be highly recommended at an instant by myself to help others sort out their issues (Richard Clarke)
