[Information] Hoarding Disorder

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What is hoarding disorder (HD)?

Hoarding disorder is new to the most recent edition of the clinician’s diagnostic manual (DSM-5), with hoarding previously categorized as a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Although individuals with OCD can engage in hoarding as a compulsion, most individuals with HD do not have OCD.

Hoarding disorder is associated with three key features:

1. Ongoing and significant difficulty getting rid of possessions (i.e., throwing away, recycling, selling, etc.), regardless of their value; and strong urges to save and/or acquire new, often non-essential, items, that if prevented leads to extreme distress. Non-essential includes items that are both useless (i.e., broken), as well as those with limited value (e.g., 10 skirts in every color but never worn)
2. Living space becomes severely compromised with extreme clutter, preventing one from using that space for its intended purpose.
3. Significant impairment in social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning as evidenced by:

• Impaired physical health
• Missed work and compromised employment
• Financial problems
• Housing instability including threat of, or actual, eviction
• Social isolation
• Emotional distress
• Family stress

Two additional specifications include:

1. Whether the individual is also engaged in excessive acquisition (It is currently estimated that upwards of 80-90% of individuals with hoarding also experience excessive acquisition of items through collecting, buying, and even theft.), and,
2. Whether the individual has any insight or awareness that their behaviour is problematic.

Hoarding as a behaviour can exist in other mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, dementia and neurodegenerative disorders, genetic disorders, brain injury, autism spectrum disorder, and affective disorders. However, a comprehensive assessment of the function of the hoarding behaviour will assist in determining whether a diagnosis of HD is warranted, or whether the hoarding behaviour is part of another disorder. Once again, as this can involve some complex distinctions, we recommend assistance from a mental health professional.

Visit website to read more about:

• Common features often present in hoarding disorder
• Self-help strategies and Building your hoarding management toolbox