Sep 09
15
Just Clutter or Hoarding
When does a collection of clutter become compulsive hoarding. Compulsive hoarding is a distressing and debilitating psychological condition that is beginning to be recognised.
A compulsive hoarder is someone who is unable to dispose of excess or unused things to the point where their belongings are taking up a great deal of their living space.
This leads to everyday tasks such as eating, preparing food and drinks or sleeping in their own bed becoming difficult or impossible because the spaces designed for living in have become storage spaces.
Survival mechanism
As a race we do hoard, for instances some hoarding situations can be part of survival mechanisms. Traditional farming entails saving or ‘hoarding’ a harvest to last through the winter, saving seed to be planted in the spring. Certain other animals hoard; squirrels gather nuts. Brain scans done on squirrels show activity in the same areas as human hoarders.
In times of shortage such as international or national conflict, power shortages and national unrest emergency candles, tinned goods and spare light bulbs may be all useful things to store. However, with a compulsive hoarder these positive choices are taken to an extreme where they no longer have any meaning or use and the activity of collecting them is pointless. The food stuffs kept by farmers for the winter will rot if not used, old seed loses its ability to germinate and sprout. It is at this point that the psychological factors come into play.
The term ‘hoarding’ is used generically to describe a very wide range of medical conditions.
- Clinical compulsive hoarding which is the most common type
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or ‘perfectionist’ hoarding
- Animal hoarding. This is very rare, although there are cases that reach the press
- Diogenes syndrome, also known as senile squalor syndrome is exceedingly rare disorder of self-neglect in association with severe personality disorders usually in the elderly
Psychological factors
The psychological factor is effectively what prevents the hoarder from throwing anything away; the items become a protection. The blocks and obstacles become a protective shield for their owners. In severe cases, moving single items from their place, not even throwing them away will cause cries of panic from the hoarder. It is very important to recognise this part of hoarding. Onlookers will look at a hoarders house and mistakenly think; all that is needed here is a good clear out. The house will then be liveable again. Meals can be cooked. Beds can be slept in. Windows can be opened. Guests can be invited.
However, in many cases the hoarder may have stopped living in their home. The home has become a storage space with the owner becoming the servant of the stored items rather than the stored items serving the owner. Sometimes the hoarder will live away from their house. This can take the form of frequent holidays.
Logic behind compulsive hoarding
Compulsive hoarders will provide sensible reasoning and justifications for filling their homes with an abundance of different items because there are times and places where hoarding has been of use and saved lives. They will argue that it is their choice to live like they are doing and a person entitled to live as they choose. Doctors and other health professionals will identify about how ‘logical’ a compulsive hoarder can be. Hoarder logic can be applied to individual small things, micro behaviors: keeping a plastic bag, one newspaper etc. this is then combined with an inability to see or be embarrassed by the macro result: 1,000 plastic bags and huge towers of newspapers.
An encouraging sign is when the hoarder becomes embarrassed by the house and they don’t want people to see how they live, it is sign that they are beginning to accept that there is something not right. This can be a early sign towards wanting to look for help.
Compulsive hoarding and acquiring
Compulsive hoarding is not just keeping things, it is also acquiring them. Sometimes this can be out of control shopping and buying, now where have I heard of this problem? On the other extreme it can be scavenging from skips. If embarrassment about the condition in which they are living is the hoarders first step back to a living breathing home; stopping the acquiring cycle is the next. However, it is important to highlight how acquiring things is ‘normal’ behavior.
We all need to acquire food and clothing. There are times when most people will experience the pleasure of a comfort buy: a chocolate bar, a new pair of shoes, a CD or a magazine. When we are ill, having trouble at work or mourning a death these small things can get us through a day. For the hoarder the purchase has two functions:
- a moment of acquisitive pleasure
- to build the shell walls higher, to make themselves feel safer
Building confidence while considering safety are crucial in enabling the hoarder to stop building the walls higher, let alone dismantling them.
Consequences of compulsive hoarding
Hoarding can become a major health hazard, fire risk or encouragement of vermin. In these cases government departments and local authorities move in and radically clear the site stripping the hoarder of their shell. These are the cases that become know to the public in the news. The hoarder regards this as ‘rape’ and will almost certainly re-establish their protecting walls of junk within as little as three months. Unless the psychological aspects are addressed, a liveable home cannot be achieved.
Hoarding and collecting
There is a big difference between a hoard and a collection. A collector is someone who is proud and passionate about their collection and wants to show them off in displays. They invite guests to admire their collections; a hoarder is the complete opposite. They not want anyone in their home. For hoarders, barring visitors has to do with a fear that the visitor will move or destroy something. However, there are cases where trauma can tip a collector over the edge into becoming a hoarder.
A hidden illness
Hoarders who live alone can go unrecognised for years and years until their neighbours start to feel the impact. During their working life, the hoarder will go out to work and meet people in public places. Once they retire and/or become disabled the situation can become even worse and be compounded by increasing depression
Not just the hoarder, but their family
Many times families will give-up. Children who have grown up in a household full of what they refer to as ‘piles of rubbish and paper’ will leave home and never return. If they see their parent(s) at all, it will be in their own homes or other public places. The tragedy is that often the parents becoming detached from their extending family and fail to develop relationships with their grandchildren.
A gradual process
The process of a cluttered home becoming a hoard storehouse is a gradual one. Traumas and anger can slow down the normal digestion and sorting of belongings. It can start as “getting behind”. When someone gets far enough behind, dealing with it becomes daunting. Words take so much time to process that getting behind with them can happen very quickly. Many people hoard words making those clots very common.
Physical fitness and energy are important considerations. Many people are able to ‘just’ stay on top of it until they get old. With less energy the task of addressing the piles can not only seem insuperable, it may be physically impossible.
Tackling the hoard
The road back is slow and measured. Throughout, the most crucial part of tackling a hoard is the person themselves, not how much stuff there is. In serious cases, the first steps may not seem very important or even perceptible to the average person. Some of the first signs might be:
- I stopped buying things, it was only making it all worse.
- I had to make a path for the plumber. When I let him in, I realised how awful it must look to him.
- I was away on holiday and I thought how wonderful it was to be in an empty hotel room
As with anything acknowledging personal ownership of what is happening is the first step. The next is wanting help and being willing to accept it.
The hoarder has to seek them help themselves. Family and friends can provide the support and finding networks, support groups and Internet forums, but the decision to change needs to come from the hoarder. Similar to an alcoholic or drug abuser they are the ones to decide whether or not they have a problem so they are the ones who have to admit they have a problem and make the first move to recovery.
So have you stockpiled your collection over a period of time and you now require a clean up or are you a compulsive hoarder? May be you fall somewhere in between the two and you’ve nothing to worry about! However consider this, you may be moving along the continuum between a hoarder and a collector, in the wrong direction!
In some cases issues like hoarding can be overcome with the help of professionals such as life coaching or counselling.
Thank you for reading this post, please let me know what you think and share your experiences. While you’re here please take the time to sign up for the newsletter or alternatively you may prefer to subscribe for regular updates in your favourite reader or by email.
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