I’m no expert by any means, but people ask me for advice about compulsive hoarding all the time. Through Internet research and exchanging experiences with others in the professional organizing community, I have compiled the following resources that may be helpful.
Compulsive hoarding syndrome (also known as hoarding disease) is a psychiatric condition related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A person with compulsive hoarding syndrome acquires worthless items and fails to discard them even when they appear (to others) to have no value. People suffering from this syndrome have homes full of what normal people would consider “junk”. Many areas of their homes are unusable because junk takes up so much space.
Wondering whether you or someone you know is a compulsive hoarder? Here’s a 23-question survey to determine your rating on the hoarding scale.
So why is compulsive hoarding a problem? As any friend or family member of a compulsive hoarder can tell you, the massive accumulation of items over time becomes unmanageable, unsanitary and sometimes even dangerous. It tends to put very difficult strain on relationships and can cause shame and embarrassment.
If you are affected by someone else’s compulsive hoarding, here are a few things to try:
Don’t clean out their house. According to the Obsessive-Compulsive (OC) Foundation, while cleaning out a hoarder’s home may seem appealing (why not just cart out the junk and be done with it, right?), it has been shown that attempts to “clean out” the homes of individuals with compulsive hoarding without treating the underlying problem usually fail. Additionally, several people I’ve spoken with report very hostile behavior from the compulsive hoarder when they tried to clean out their homes. It is probably best to focus your energy elsewhere.
Read up on it.
- The Obsessive-Compulsive (OC) Foundation’s site gives the best and most enlightening description I’ve seen on compulsive hoarding.
- The Children of Hoarders web site has a number of excellent videos worth watching and other resources.
- Dr. David Tolin, the prominent psychologist specializing in compulsive hoarding and other anxiety-related disorders, has authored a self-help book with his colleagues entitled Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving and Hoarding.
- A list of hoarding-related web sites and blogs is located here at Hoardhouse.
Join an online support group. Geralin Thomas is a local professional organizer in Cary, NC and owner of Metropolitan Organizing. She has lots of experience working with hoarders and advises folks affected by compulsive hoarding to join an online support group for people with this disease and their families. An online group can give you the means to feel supported by others dealing with similar situations and the ability to share and ask questions anonymously. Here are a few:
- Dr. Tolin leads a Facebook discussion group for people who are suffering from or recovering from compulsive hoarding.
- The OC Foundation maintains this page with many support group resources.
- Here’s a list of Yahoo discussion groups for people with OC disorders, including compulsive hoarding syndrome.
Seek out professional help for yourself. Geralin says that it is very difficult to help hoarders unless they recognize their problem and realize that they need help. She recommends that someone affected by another person’s hoarding disease should consider seeing a counselor or psychologist for their own sake.
If you’re new to counselors and psychologists and need help finding one, here are three suggestions:
- Go to Psychology Today and search by zip code and specialty; or
- Ask a trusted friend or colleague for a recommendation; or
- If you have health insurance, check your insurer’s Web site for a directory of in-network mental health providers.
If you’re in the local Triangle area of North Carolina, I’ve heard very good things about Dr. Wilson, local specialist in compulsive hoarding. It might be worth calling to talk to him and/or ask for therapist recommendations:
3011 Jones Ferry Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Phone: (919) 942-0700
Thoughts on this? Suggestions? Post a comment, or write to Crystal and let her know!
You have done a terrific job of rounding up information and resources on this topic. My mother suffers from years of depression and chronic disorganization that finally escalated into full-blown compulsive hoarding after her last child left for college. We, her children and our spouses, have gone back twice in the past seven months to help her with the process of getting therapy and sorting through all the stuff.
My mother is nowhere near as bad as a lot of the people on the A & E show, she is not living in squalor - yet. But if we did not step in to help her, who knows what would have happened.
I have read the book you recommended and it is an excellent resource. I also liked Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding by Fugen A. Neziroglu, Jose A. Yaryura-Tobias, Jerome Bubrick.
I’ve done a lot of research myself, but was interested in finding my mother an online support group and possibly some one who would work through a Treatments That Work workbook, by the same researchers who wrote the Buried in Treasures book that you mentioned (there is also an accompanying therapist’s book to go along with that one). So, I’m grateful for the links you have posted about groups, and I’ll try those first.
Thanks again for the info!
Jessie, thanks very much for your comments. I’m so glad the resources were helpful.
Readers, if you’re interested in reading more, I just came across this interesting article from today’s NY Times about hoarding.
Crystal