Hoarding
Ferrets Among Us
Lisa McDonald
01/23/2013
Ms. Doris
Medical Office Basics
Do you have a problem selling, throwing away, or even recycling things? If you do it is very possible that you may have an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder referred to as Hoarding. Another way to tell if you have this problem is if you shop too much. According to the International OCD Foundation, 3 out of every 4 people shop excessively. While collecting research and reading over signs and symptoms that I will cover later in this paper I realized that I may have an undiagnosed Hoarder in my immediate family.
The International OCD Foundation states, “Hoarding is a complex disorder that is made up of three connected problems: 1) collecting too many items, 2) difficulty getting rid of items and 3) problems with organization.” Of the items hoarded the most common are newspapers and clothes, but also commonly includes containers, junk mail, craft items, books, trash, and in some cases animals. Even collectors can eventually fall into the category of being a Hoarder when their collection becomes so overwhelming that they are no longer able to display their possessions in a safe manner. The clutter in a persons’ dwelling must create a health and safety concern, and also significant distress, in order to truly be categorized as a disorder. It is estimated that as many as 1 in every 20 people have a substantial amount of hoarding problems. The act of Hoarding, cluttering of living spaces and keeping items of little to no value, is most commonly found in older age groups but in rare cases can also be found in adolescents and children as early as 3 years old. The reason that hoarding is found so commonly in the elderly is because the severity of the disorder increases with each decade of life. Hoarding is also found to be more dominant in men than in women. Symptoms of Hoarding are believed to begin in early childhood or adolescence and progress each year without proper therapy.
Lisa McDonald
01/23/2013
Ms. Doris
Medical Office Basics
Do you have a problem selling, throwing away, or even recycling things? If you do it is very possible that you may have an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder referred to as Hoarding. Another way to tell if you have this problem is if you shop too much. According to the International OCD Foundation, 3 out of every 4 people shop excessively. While collecting research and reading over signs and symptoms that I will cover later in this paper I realized that I may have an undiagnosed Hoarder in my immediate family.
The International OCD Foundation states, “Hoarding is a complex disorder that is made up of three connected problems: 1) collecting too many items, 2) difficulty getting rid of items and 3) problems with organization.” Of the items hoarded the most common are newspapers and clothes, but also commonly includes containers, junk mail, craft items, books, trash, and in some cases animals. Even collectors can eventually fall into the category of being a Hoarder when their collection becomes so overwhelming that they are no longer able to display their possessions in a safe manner. The clutter in a persons’ dwelling must create a health and safety concern, and also significant distress, in order to truly be categorized as a disorder. It is estimated that as many as 1 in every 20 people have a substantial amount of hoarding problems. The act of Hoarding, cluttering of living spaces and keeping items of little to no value, is most commonly found in older age groups but in rare cases can also be found in adolescents and children as early as 3 years old. The reason that hoarding is found so commonly in the elderly is because the severity of the disorder increases with each decade of life. Hoarding is also found to be more dominant in men than in women. Symptoms of Hoarding are believed to begin in early childhood or adolescence and progress each year without proper therapy.
References: (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ocfoundation.org/hoarding Frost, R. O. (2010). Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Paxton, M. (2011). The Secret Lives of Hoarders. New York: Penguin Group. VISULIZATION- Power Point