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Compulsive hoarding From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Compulsive hoarding in an apartment.

Compulsive hoarding (more accurately described as "hoarding disorder")[1] is a pattern of behavior that is characterized by the excessive acquisition of and inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects that cover the living areas of the home and cause significant distress or impairment.[2] Compulsive hoarding behavior has been associated with health risks, impaired functioning, economic burden, and adverse effects on friends and family members.[3] When clinically significant enough to impair functioning, hoarding can prevent typical uses of space so as to limit activities such as cooking, cleaning, moving through the house, and sleeping. It can also be dangerous if it puts the individual or others at risk from fire, falling, poor sanitation, and other health concerns.[4]

Researchers have only recently begun to study hoarding,[5] and it was first defined as a mental disorder in the 5th edition of the DSM in 2013.[6] It is not clear whether "compulsive" hoarding is a separate, isolated disorder, or rather a symptom of another condition, such as OCD.[7] Prevalence rates have been estimated at 2-5% in adults,[8] though the condition typically manifests in childhood with symptoms worsening in advanced age when collected items have grown excessive and family members who would otherwise help to maintain and control the levels of clutter either die or move away.[9] Hoarding appears to be more common in people with psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.[10] Other factors often associated with hoarding include alcohol dependence as well as paranoid, schizotypal, and avoidance traits.[11] Family histories show strong positive correlations.

In 2008 a study was conducted to determine if there is a significant link between hoarding and interference in occupational and social functioning. Hoarding behavior is often severe because of poor insight of the hoarding patients in that they do not recognize it as a problem. Without this insight, it is much harder for behavioral therapy to be the key to the successful treatment of compulsive hoarders. The results found that hoarders were significantly less likely to see a problem in a hoarding situation than a friend or a relative might.[12] This is independent of OCD symptoms as patients with OCD are often very aware of their disorder.

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