When they were faced with tossing or keeping their own items, the hoarders' brain responses also differed from that of the other participants: they showed excessive activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region involved with decision-making, particularly in situations involving conflicting information or ...
What Tolin discovered is that a hoarder has abnormal activation in the insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of the brain, areas that regulate emotional responses to objects. The insula and ACC tell us whether an object is important to us or not.
Those most often associated with hoarding are obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression.
Personality. Many people who have hoarding disorder have a behavior style that includes trouble making decisions and problems with attention, organization and problem-solving. Family history. There is a strong association between having a family member who has hoarding disorder and having the disorder yourself.
Brain damage
It is suggested that abnormal brain development and brain lesions could lead to compulsive behaviors of hoarding.
Hoarding disorder is a mental health problem that a doctor can diagnose. But you might also experience hoarding as part of another mental or physical health problem. If you hoard, you might: Feel the need to get more things, even if you have a lot already.
Some researchers believe hoarding can relate to childhood experiences of losing things, not owning things, or people not caring for you. This might include experiences like: Money worries or living in poverty in childhood. Having your belongings taken or thrown away by someone.
Results: Hoarding symptoms were associated with greater self-reported emotional empathy, specifically emotional contagion, and less self-reported cognitive empathy.
One of the contributing factors to hoarding can be traumatic events or a significant loss. Traumatic events such as the death of a loved one, divorce, or other major life changes, can lead to hoarding.
This is deeply scaring psychologically and can lead to severe anxiety and depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or substance abuse. We also know that being exposed to trauma and without being able to control our environment leads to hopelessness and helplessness (see Marty Seligman).
Compulsive hoarding is a progressive and chronic condition that begins early in life. Left untreated, its severity increases with age. Compulsive hoarding should be considered a distinct clinical syndrome, separate from OCD.
Offering general support. If you are supporting someone who is hoarding, whether they agree or not, you should try to keep these important points in mind: Use respectful language. Don't refer to their possessions as 'junk' or 'rubbish'.
You can recover from hoarding. It just takes time, patience, and professional help. Hoarders can recover from their symptoms and go on to lead healthy lives over time. If you want to help a hoarder reclaim their life, the key is not to give up.
Helping Hoarders Let Go
Their fear of losing something essential—such as their identity or sense of security—can make them extremely resistant to decluttering. In many cases, professional help is needed in order for them to overcome this attachment and move forward with their lives.
The main treatment for hoarding disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a skills-based approach to therapy. You learn how to better manage beliefs and behaviors that are linked to keeping the clutter.
People with hoarding disorder may feel ashamed about how they live or friends and family may shy away from visiting them at home. This can take a toll on the hoarder's social life, causing them to feel isolated and lonely, and making your support even more important.
Often, hoarders are embarrassed by the number of possessions they have and are uncomfortable allowing others to see them. Clutter crowds living spaces and the initial joy that may be felt when acquiring something new quickly turns to shame and sadness.
They just won't find their way out. It's for these reasons, in part, that hoarding is extremely difficult to treat. And hoarding is almost always accompanied by a comorbid condition--depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder are among the most common--which complicates matters even further.
Background: Hoarding symptoms have been described in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Furthermore, individuals with hoarding disorder (HD) may display some ASD-like features.
If a person tries to move the possessions without the hoarder's consent, the hoarder can become emotionally upset or angry. This can potentially result in the helpful individual's expulsion from the home.
Without proper education, it is easy for people to assume that hoarders are merely “dirty” or “lazy.” In fact, these individuals may be suffering from trauma-related psychological pain and may require treatment by a mental health professional.
2. Hoarding. "Hoarding is a sign of any kind of abuse, in general," says McCoy. "You could be hoarding finances or objects to make yourself feel safer."
In 2013, hoarding disorder was officially recognized as a separate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual psychiatric diagnosis after years of debate. Prior to 2013, hoarding disorder was generally considered a subset of obsessive-compulsive disorder.