Hi Leotje!
The syndrome you?re referring to is called compulsive hoarding.
Compulsive Hoarding
?Compulsive hoarding is a complex psychological disorder that can
significantly disrupt a person's life. Hoarding occurs when a person
acquires and saves possessions that have either little or no value (or
have some perceived value), and the person then has great difficulty
in discarding their possessions. This usually results in clutter.?
(..)
?The following are some common characteristics within compulsive hoarding:
Saving or collecting continues beyond what is needed or of use.
Avoiding throwing possessions away, or experience high levels of
anxiety when discarding items.
Having significant clutter at home, often to the point where pathways
need to be made to walk around.
Functional spaces are lost due to clutter. For example, can not sit
on chairs or use tabletops because possessions occupy those areas.
Socializing is curtailed or eliminated.
Value of uniqueness is attached to items that others do not find
valuable, such as papers, containers and food items.
Strong emotional connections are formed to the extent that and
individual feels a sense of safety or comfort.
Feeling suspicious of other people touching possessions (or throwing them away).
Feeling overwhelmed and/or embarrassed by possessions.
Others perceive belongings as bothersome and/or dangerous.?
Bio-Behavioral Institute
http://www.bio-behavioral.com/hoarding.asp
---------------------------------------------
FUNCTIONAL NEUROANATOMY OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE HOARDING
?Compulsive hoarding is the acquisition of, and inability to discard,
items even though they appear to have no value. Hoarding and saving
symptoms, found in up to 30% of patients with OCD, are part of a
discrete clinical syndrome that also includes indecisiveness,
perfectionism, procrastination, and avoidance. The compulsive hoarding
syndrome often responds poorly to standard treatments for OCD and can
become disabling. A better understanding of the neurobiology of
compulsive hoarding is needed to develop more effective treatments.?
UCLA : Mental Health
http://www.mentalhealth.ucla.edu/projects/anxiety/ocdresearch.htm
---------------------------------------------
?Dr. Randy Frost, professor of psychology at Smith College has written
extensively on the topic of compulsive hoarding.
?It's a malady that mostly goes unnoticed, because the people who
suffer from it hoard in silence, compulsively saving even the most
insignificant scraps of paper.?
(..)
?In our research we have found that people who hoard are more often
single, divorced or separated than people who don't. In a recent study
of elderly hoarders we also found a very high percentage who were
never married (over 50%). It is clear that this behavior can put a
strain on even the strongest relationship.?
Source: ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/chat_hoarding102299.html
---------------------------------------------
Hoarding Fact Sheet:
This guide assists seniors who are hoarders, and offers detailed
intervention guidelines.
?Hoarding is the excessive collection and retention of things or
animals until they interfere with day-to-day functions such as home,
health, family, work and social life. Severe hoarding causes safety
and health hazards.?
?Hoarding is recognized as both a mental health issue and a public health problem.?
Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
http://www.la4seniors.com/hoarding.htm
---------------------------------------------
Confronting Compulsive Hoarding
December 2002
by Chris M. Kelly
http://www.sfaa.org/magazine/archives/2002/1202/features/1202.kelly.html
---------------------------------------------
The Obsessive Compulsive Foundation has a brochure about hoarding:
Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding (Overview) Randy Frost, Ph.D. and Gail
Steketee, Ph.D.
1 page overview on compulsive hoarding.
From the January/February 2000 OCF Newsletter.
$2.00
http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1240a.htm
---------------------------------------------
Search Criteria:
Compulsive Hoarding
I hope you find this helpful! If anything is unclear with my answer,
please ask for clarification.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7 |
