Clearing A Hoarder's House: Understanding OCD

Hoarding has been linked with several psychological disorders, it is most commonly related to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Most people with OCD have a compulsion to hoard things which results in them keeping large volumes of items that otherwise are considered excessive or worthless. It involves the acquisition of and fear to throw away accumulated items that appear to be useless or of limited value.

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People who are known as having a problem with hoarding tend to be rather older than other OCD sufferers though most specify that their hoarding behaviour started when they were at a young age. Subsequently the average age of onset for these symptoms is unknown.

The obsessional fear related with hoarding is the importance of something that might be lost by departure such as an out-of-date newspaper. The most commonly saved items include newspapers, magazines, clothing, bags, mail and books they believe may be needed in the future. Obsessive hoarders don’t just save stuff, but they regularly buy or obtain new stuff.

Hoarding is always accompanied by excessive acquisition of possessions. This may consist of both compulsive buying as well as the compulsive acquisition of free stuff. For instance, a sufferer may visit the local newsagents daily to get hold of going spare magazines or newspapers. Often, sufferers are unable to abstain from buying bargains, even though they have no use for them. Other forms of compulsive acquisition include picking up handouts, leaflets or other free offerings, and even picking through other people’s rubbish.