By Therese Borchard
Many people might claim that, at least at one point in their lives, they could be classified as a “pack rat” or a “closet clutterer.” However, compulsive hoarding is an anxiety disorder that involves much more than keeping extra papers and magazines around, or collecting CDs under your desk. Severe compulsive hoarding can interfere with a person’s activities–such as cooking, cleaning, showering, and sleeping–because piles of newspapers or clothes are found in the sink, in the shower, on the bed, and in every corner of a home.
There is more awareness of the issue today, due in part to the two reality TV series: “Hoarders” and “Hoarding: Buried Alive.” However, there is still so much more educating that needs to be done regarding this issue.
Here, then, are ten things you should know about hoarding. Much of the information was taken from the research of Gerald Nestadt, M.D., M.P.H and Jack Samuels, Ph.D. of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
1. Compulsive hoarding affects approximately 700,000 to 1.4 million people in the US.
2. Compulsive hoarding is often considered a form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) because between 18 and 42 percent of people with OCD experience some compulsion to hoard. However, compulsive hoarding can affect people who don’t have OCD.
3. The OCD Collaborative Genetics Study reported that genetic linkage findings are different in OCD families with and without hoarding behavior, suggesting that a region on chromosome 14 is linked with compulsive hoarding behavior in these families and that hoarding is a distinct genetic subtype of OCD.
4. The compulsion to hoard often starts during childhood or the teen years, but doesn’t usually become severe until adulthood.
5. Hoarding can be more about fear of throwing something away than about collection or saving. Thinking about discarding an item triggers anxiety in the hoarder, so she hangs on to the item to prevent angst.
6. Many hoarders are perfectionists. They fear making the wrong decision about what to keep and what to throw out, so they keep everything.
7. Hoarding often runs in families and can frequently accompany other mental health disorders, like depression, social anxiety, bipolar disorder, and impulse control problems. A majority of people with compulsive hoarding can identify another family member who has the problem.
8. Compulsive hoarders rarely recognize their problem. Generally, only after the hoarding becomes a problem with other family members is the problem discussed.
9. Compulsive hoarding can be difficult to control. It is usually treated in the same way OCD is. However, compulsive hoarding doesn’t usually respond as well as other kinds of OCD.
10. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) may be more effective for compulsive hoarding than medications, especially when it involves a therapist going into the home of the hoarder and helps her to develop habits and a consistent behavioral program to try to de-clutter her home, car, and life.
Our Better Health 
I am a low level hoarder and I have stuff piled everywhere and on the floor. I walk on it at times. I do not have animal feces lying around except in my cat’s litter box. I do not have food lying around. My bed has some stuff on it and my computer chair is full when I am not sitting in it. Until I became obsessed with blogging I actually was working on cleaning up, but blogging is more fun. I even have a category on my blog for hoarding but haven’t done anything much to put in there.
You are not alone.
I also have some challenges with too many possessions I really do not need.
Recently I moved from a house to a one bedroom apartment.
I have parted with many things, but still have a little ways to go.
I hope to work on this over the coming weeks.
I have always been a hoarder, but my biggest problem was when I went from a 3 bedroom apt to a single bedroom with my son in the other. When he moved out my dad and I filled that room up. So it has gotten worse then when I first moved into the single room. Always have boxes piled around the walls and all my bedroom furniture, computer desk and regular desk are all in this room so you can imagine I don’t have much room. My son is trying to talk me into donating all my household supplies to make more room. He tells me I can get more if I move to another apt. He lives mininmalistically and moves a lot. He lives light. Good luck with the clean out!
Thanks Tessa … good luck with your challenges as well 😉
I am going to need the luck. I need to get in the right mood for it. Occasionally I do pick things up, but they shouldn’t be there in the first place.
For me, success is like a journey up a mountain. If I look up at the path ahead of me, I might be so overwhelmed that I may give up.
So, instead I break it down into smaller steps. Each day I may only take a step or two, but as long as I am headed in the right direction, I know I will arrive.