Essay on Compulsive Hoarding and Dr. Randy Frost - 803 Words

Hoarding is defined as the acquirement of, and inability to discard worthless items even though they appear to have no value. Hoarding behaviors can occur in a variety of psychiatric disorders and in the normal population, but are most commonly found in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Those people who report compulsive hoarding as their primary type of OCD, who experience significant distress or functional impairment from their hoarding, and who also have symptoms of indecisiveness, procrastination, and avoidance, are classified as having compulsive hoarding syndrome (www.ocfoundation.com). An estimated 700,000 to 1.4 million people in the United States are thought to have compulsive hoarding syndrome. Compulsive hoarding is†¦show more content†¦They diagnose the compulsive hoarding syndrome according to three criterions. First, the accumulation of useless possessions and failure to discard them can be a sign of the disorder. Compulsive hoarders have an obsessive need to accumulate and save many objects, and also have a tremendous anxiety about throwing them away. This is because of a supposed need for the objects and their value or an unnecessary emotional attachment to them. If they have any doubt at all about the value of an object, compulsive hoarders will keep it, â€Å"just in case† (www.rd.com). A Second criterion, according to Dr. Randy Frost, is living spaces of the person are so cluttered that the rooms cannot be used for their original design. For example, one cannot use the toilet because items are stored in it. Obviously, with lots of items coming into the home and very few going out, the clutter will accumulate. It does not take long for the clutter to start spreading onto the floors, counter tops, hallways, stairwells, even to the garage. Beds become so cluttered that there is no room to sleep. Kitchen counters become so cluttered that food cannot be prepared. For many hoarders, it gets to a point where there might be only a narrow pathway that connects each room, and the rest of the house is piled several feet high with clutter. This clutter can not only be a hindrance, but can also be very dangerous. The dust, mildew, mold, and rat droppings commonly found in extreme clutter can irritateShow MoreRelatedHoarding Is a Real Disorder Suffered by Real People Essay2403 Words   |  10 PagesMany people know the television shows, Hoarding: Buried Alive, on TLC or Hoarders on AE. These reality TV shows feature hoarders and their families. The crews of the shows follow the hoarder for a few days to study how hoarding affects their daily lives. A professional organizer and a therapist are taken through the house to see what the hoarder collects. The houses are disgusting; many times, there are rodents, cockroaches, stacks of paper and garbage everywhere. The audience is shown interviewsRead MoreOcd - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment131367 Words   |  526 Pages978-1-59385-375-4 (paperback) 1. Cognitive therapy. 2. Obsessive–compulsive disorder. I. Title. RC489.C63C57 2004 616.85†²2270651—dc22 2003020283 To my parents, Albert and Ardith, for their support and encouragement About the Author About the Author David A. Clark, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Canada. He received his PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, England. Dr. Clark has published numerous articles on cognitive theory