Conditions: Hoarding

What is hoarding?

Hoarding refers to acquiring or saving lots of things regardless of their value.

Hoarding is considered a significant problem if the amount of clutter is excessive and interferes with everyday living – for example, the person is unable to use their kitchen or bathroom and cannot access certain rooms. The clutter can also cause significant distress or adversely impact the quality of life of the person or their family – for example, they become upset if someone tries to clear the clutter and their relationships suffer as a result. Often, many of the things kept are of little or no monetary value, however, most people with a hoarding disorder have a very strong emotional attachment to their objects. People might disagree on what constitutes hoarding and whether it is causing problems for you. Someone else (such as a friend, family member or healthcare professional) might say you are hoarding when you don't think you are. Hoarding is when your need to keep things causes you distress or interferes with your day-to-day life. Difficulties discarding objects can not only cause loneliness and mental health problems but also pose a health and safety risk. Hoarding can therefore be associated with self-neglect too. An important distinction needs to be made between a "hoard" and a "collection". Namely, a “collection” is usually well ordered and organised, and the items are easily accessible. A “hoard” is usually very disorganised, takes up a lot of room and the items are largely inaccessible.

 It is increasingly being recognised that hoarding can be a condition by itself, as well as sometimes being a symptom of other mental health problems. It was previously though that hoarding was a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but research now suggests they are not the same.