Being the family member of a person with hoarding disorder (HD) can be very stressful. For those family members who live with the person with HD, such as a partner, child, sibling or dependent parent, living among the extreme clutter can cause a lot of physical and emotional difficulties.
Diminished Quality of Life
Hoarding also causes anger, resentment, and depression among family members, and it can affect the social development of children. Unlivable conditions may lead to separation or divorce, eviction, and even loss of child custody.
You might be able to link the start of your hoarding to a traumatic period in your life. This could include: Being abused, bullied or harassed, including experiencing racism. Breaking up with a partner.
According to research, there is a link between PTSD and hoarding. When one is exposed to trauma, people build guards around themselves and everything around them. If they start losing the stuff or declutter, they feel a void inside of them, so it's tougher for them than other people.
Mental health problems associated with hoarding include: severe depression. psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia. obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
While hoarding disorder is classified as being part of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) spectrum, which is an anxiety disorder, hoarding disorder is a distinct condition.
Hoarding gets worse with age, which is why it's often associated with older adults, but it usually starts in childhood.
Touching Items Without Permission: Hoarders have an unnatural attachment to the things that they have gathered. If a person tries to move the possessions without the hoarder's consent, the hoarder can become emotionally upset or angry.
Conclusions: Hoarding symptoms are associated with increased emotional contagion and decreased cognitive empathy. Empathy may be an avenue for understanding and treating interpersonal difficulties in hoarding disorder.
Hoarders generally experience embarrassment about their possessions and feel uncomfortable when others see them. Their clutter often takes over functional living space, and they feel sad or ashamed after acquiring additional items.
Parents might feel glued to their "stuff." But hoarding can become child abuse. Children growing up with an alcoholic parent may feel neglected. When they get older, they may be furious that they had to live with a shameful secret.
Hoarders often endure a lifelong struggle with hoarding. They tend to live alone and may have a family member with the problem.
Hoarding disorder can cause problems in relationships, social and work activities, and other important areas of functioning. Potential consequences of serious hoarding include health and safety concerns, such as fire hazards, tripping hazards, and health code violations.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are most commonly used to treat hoarding disorder. A recent meta-analysis shows that treatment response to pharmacotherapy is similar to the response in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
As with most mental health disorders, hoarding disorder is a lifelong condition. However, the hoarding outlook doesn't have to be daunting. With treatment and the incorporation of coping mechanisms, someone with hoarding disorder can remain in recovery and feel comfortable in their home.
Hoarding often runs in families and can frequently accompany other mental health disorders, like depression, social anxiety, bipolar disorder, and impulse control problems.
Frustration and hostility build over time when their partner is unable to make a dent in the clutter despite repeated requests. The spouse may consider separation or divorce when they become too frustrated or the family conflict gets too intense. If there are children in the family, a custody battle may then ensue.
Self-neglect covers a wide range of behaviour which in general means someone is not caring for their own personal hygiene, health, safety or surroundings. It can also include hoarding behaviour, although not always. Hoarding can involve specific things, very general items, or animals – even data can be hoarded!
They cringe at the prospect of being judged as broken, flawed, or inadequate by others. They already believe it is probably true. How could it not be when they tell themselves the very same things? This leaves them in a chronic state of feeling overwhelmed.
Don't Force Them – Although it may seem tempting, do not clean the house without their knowledge or permission. To a hoarder, all of their possessions—even junk—are valuable. If someone invades their house and just beings throwing those treasures away then it can lead to feelings of betrayal, depression, or anger.
Two of the most common forms are cat hoarding and dog hoarding. However, a person can hoard any animal.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is the first treatment recommended for hoarding disorder.
Hoarding Level Four: Sewer backup, hazardous electrical wiring, flea infestation, rotting food on counters, lice on bedding, and pet damage to home. Hoarding Level Five: Rodent infestation, kitchen and bathroom unusable due to clutter, human and animal feces, and disconnected electrical and/or water service.