Am I a hoarder?

Since the show on Hoarders (A&E) started airing last year, I've been getting calls from people all over the country asking me if I think they are, or their parents are, or their friends are - a hoarder.

Not everyone who is disorganized or who has a collection of items is a hoarder. Some of my clients have amassed thousands of items - which they use for their hobbies or crafts - while they may be addicted to their collecting - they are not hoarders. Their addiction to their collections may even do them harm - financially or emotionally (usually by causing discord with spouses), but still they are not necessarily hoarders.

I follow the OCD Foundation's definition as stated below:

Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome - An Introduction
Karron Maidment RN, M.A.

Program Coordinator/Behavior Therapist
UCLA OCD Intensive Treatment Program

Hoarding is defined as the acquisition of, and inability to discard worthless items even though they appear (to others) to have no value. Hoarding behaviors can occur in a variety of psychiatric disorders and in the normal population, but are most commonly found in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Those people who report compulsive hoarding as their primary type of OCD, experience significant distress or functional impairment from their hoarding. They have symptoms of indecisiveness, procrastination, and avoidance, are classified as having compulsive hoarding syndrome. An estimated 700,000 to 1.4 million people in the United States are believed to have compulsive hoarding syndrome.

Compulsive hoarding is not just an enthusiast's passion for collecting stamps, dolls, or baseball cards. Neither is it someone who likes to "tinker," and fix up old cars or broken furniture. People with compulsive hoarding syndrome may have immense difficulty throwing anything away, from the oldest paper clip, to a used food container, to an out-of-date newspaper, for fear that they might need those items in the future. Their homes are often full of stuff that the rest of us would call "junk." The most commonly saved items include newspapers, magazines, old clothing, bags, books, mail, notes, and lists.

Along with difficulties in throwing things away, compulsive hoarders have severe difficulties making decisions, perfectionism, and avoiding tasks. People with compulsive hoarding syndrome do not like to make mistakes. To prevent making a mistake, they will avoid or postpone making decisions. Even the smallest task, such as washing dishes or checking mail may take a long time because it has to be done "right." The net result of these high standards and the fear of making a mistake is that compulsive hoarders avoid doing many tasks, because everything becomes tedious and overwhelming.

To differentiate "normal" collecting from compulsive hoarding, Dr. Randy Frost and his colleagues define the compulsive hoarding syndrome according to three criteria:

The acquisition of, and failure to discard, possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value. Compulsive hoarders have an obsessive need to acquire and save many objects, and tremendous anxiety about discarding them, because of a perceived need for the objects for their apparent value. Sometimes an excessive emotional attachment to them develops. A compulsive hoarder will think, "This is too good to throw away," "This is important information," "I will need this later on," "This should not be wasted." These thoughts are generally normal, but their frequency and the importance attached to them are clearly excessive in compulsive hoarders. If they have any doubt at all as to the value of an object -- no matter how trivial, compulsive hoarders will keep it -- just in case.

Living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were originally designed. Obviously, with many items coming into the home and very few going out, the clutter will accumulate. It does not take long for the clutter to spread onto the floors, counter tops, hallways, stairwells, garage, and cars. Beds become so cluttered that there is no room to sleep. Chairs become buried under clutter, so there is nowhere to sit. Kitchen counters become so cluttered that food cannot be prepared. For many hoarders, it gets to a point where there might be only a narrow pathway that connects each room, and the rest of the house is piled several feet high with clutter. It becomes impossible to use many areas of the house for their original purpose.

Significant distress or impairment in functioning is caused by the hoarding. Because of their desire for perfection, compulsive hoarders frequently take a long time to do even small chores. An inordinate amount of time may be spent "churning" -- moving items from one pile to another but never actually discarding any item nor establishing any consistent organizational system. Many compulsive hoarders have limited social interactions. The nature of their problem makes them socially isolated. They are frequently too embarrassed by their clutter to have people come to their home, sometimes for many years. Some compulsive hoarders are able to work, but they will often comment that they are not working in a job that fully utilizes their skills or potential. They always come in early and leave late because they take much longer than other people to finish tasks. A survey of elderly hoarders found that hoarding constituted a physical health threat in 81% of identified cases. These included threat of fire hazard, falling, unsanitary conditions, and inability to prepare food.

Given this profile, it appears that people with compulsive hoarding syndrome have unique deficits in problem solving and information processing. Compulsive hoarders have a distinct behavioral profile and a characteristic pattern of symptoms and functional disability. This requires a different treatment approach from that used for other types of OCD. Compulsive hoarding syndrome may represent a subgroup or variant of OCD that is caused by different genetic and familial factors than non-hoarding OCD.

http://www.ocfoundation.info

Food hoarding

Q: My mother is elderly and lives in a senior apartment. For quite sometime she has been collecting food and paperware from any source she can. When she goes to eat in the dining room she fills her pockets with the sugar packets from the table. When she is out anywhere there are paper plates, napkins and plasticware, she collects as much as she can carry. She also visits food give away sites and picks up anything and everything they have - even when she doesn't eat the foods she collects. Her small apartment is packed with food and she won't part with any of it. Can you tell me what is going on?

A. I would feel very confident telling you that your mother is a hoarder and her obsession is with food. People with hoarding issues can be hoarding food, objects and even animals. I have met a woman who has more than 100 cats in her home. I've met a man who has so many books in his home he actually sleeps on the top bunk of a bunk bed so that books can stored below him. Hoarding is a very serious problem that needs to be addressed professionally. Given your mother's advanced age, it's going to be nearly impossible to cure. I recommend that you contact The OC Foundation at http://www.ocfoundation.org/hoarding and http://www.childrenofhoarders.com for help.

If her situation is dangerous, such as building towers of food that may topple over and injure her, or blocking doorways, etc., you may need to take action. I highly recommend that you call in a professional organizer who specializes in working with hoarders. Hoarders can become hysterical, have a panic attack, scream, cry and even have to be rushed to the hospital when their home is being dismantled. They may even physically attack YOU and your workers.

In this house, the hoarder has been stuffing food into every cabinet and closet. Some of the cans had actually burst from age and glued themselves to the shelving. Nothing was allowed to be discarded no matter how old and how dangerous.

My Mother's Garden

On Sunday, April 5th, MSMBC will be showing My Mother's Garden, a film about a family dealing with their mother's hoarding issues. (Check your listing for times.)

One of the most interesting aspects of this condition is shown near the end of the film when their mother returns to her cleared out home - instead of being happy to have the mess gone, she is in fact devastated that the house is empty. I have experienced this with my own clients and it goes to how serious an issue hoarding is and why the hoarder must go into therapy.

All in a day's work

Our client is a hoarder who suffers from clinical depression and is trying hard to make a new start. We are helping to sort through the clutter, and organize what will be saved. It's going to be a long process, but we are making a good progress...

Here's Ramon sorting through the stuff on the floor...


After sorting and organizing we have boxes with like items for the homeowner to go through and decide if they want to keep or donate.


Another room needing our help...


After Ramon and I have been through the room. We finished these 2 rooms in just 6 hours. Now to tackle the remaining 6 areas...

Hoarding Study Newsletter

For those of you looking for more help on hoarding, Dr. David Tolin (who has been seen on Oprah several times) and his team, publish a quarterly newsletter. They also have a substantial website. Visit his site at: www.instituteofliving.org/ADC/compulsive_hoarding.htm

The Oprah show on hoarding

I have a few comments to make on the Thursday and Friday Oprah shows on hoarding. It was a terrific show and Peter Walsh is an amazing organizer and great representative of our profession.

For anyone struggling with hoarding, whether the issue is yours or a family member, here are some important points:

1. Unless the person is in immediate danger, you can not just go in and clear out the house for the hoarder and expect that the problem will be solved for them. They must be led through the process, want to change and agree to therapy during and after the process.

2. It's not about the stuff. The stuff is the end result of their attempts to deal with their problems.

3. You can not win an argument with a hoarder over the importance of an item. They value EVERYTHING the same, whether it be a diamond necklace or a used paper bag. That is part of the underlying problem with hoarding, they can not distinquish what is REALLY valuable and important.

4. Establish the "vision" for the space. Write down words that convey what it is you want the space to be and tape those words to the wall. Anything that does not support the vision for that space does not belong there.

5. Seek professional help from experienced people - even if you can not afford a team of professional organizers, call us, use us to create a plan and get you started.  I have listed various agencies that can help in past posts, see:  hoarding.

Peter Walsh on Oprah

My other favorite organizer, Peter Walsh, will be on Oprah 11/15 - 16, doing a show on clearing out the house of hoarders.

Hoarding is a very serious issue that affects way more people than we ever thought. If you or any of your friends and family are hoarding or have hoarding tendencies, I strongly urge you to contact the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD.org) for assistance. You may also find www.ocfoundation.org or www.helpinghoarders.com or www.childrenofhoarders.com helpful resources.

A son's struggle

He called me last week, "I need help, my father's landlord wants to get into my father's apartment and we've got to pack up his stuff". Okay, I can do that, I said. "Well, it's not that easy, you see, my father has a problem. He's a real packrat. He collects everything he can get his hands on. I've cleaned out his place a dozen times and everytime I go back, it's the same story. And we fight and argue over throwing away paper bags and empty containers and string and rubber bands and newspapers - he collects garbage. He also has more food than your average grocery store. There's so much stuff you can't use the kitchen or even close the bathroom door. I don't know what to do anymore. But I can't face going in there alone."

Hoarding is a serious disorder and much more common than we ever imagined. After years of working as an organizer I now know that I can walk ANY block in ANY neighborhood in ANY city and find at least one, if not more, hoarders living there. In my own condo complex I know of 6 units that are suffering because of hoarding issues. I also know several people who have homes with over 100 cats - they are hoarding animals.

Fortunately, hoarding is being seriously studied by researchers in several hospitals and universities. Just recently several new books have come out on the subject. (Buried in Treasures and Overcoming Complusive Hoarding) You can find out more about hoarding by going to the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. NSGCD.org and take the hoarding scale test to see if your friend or family member has a serious problem.

The sad fact is that yes, we cleaned out his father's apartment, but by this time next week the collecting will have begun again.