Compulsive Hoarding: A Stifled Chaos Essay

Lars Eighner “On Dumpster Diving” originally published in The Threepenny review in fall 1990. Eighner’s arranges his essay into 3 main ideas to all tie into his overall theme. He ties it all into the idea that our society is wasteful by nature. Eighner uses his own experiences to show how wasteful people really are. Although he has not always been homeless, it has taught him a way of life he had never dreamed imaginable. If he doesn’t discover the hidden treasure of the dumpster’s then who will.

In Bookmarks, Possessed by Our Possessions, Diane Cole states, “But never has hoarding been so visible as it is today in westernized societies. Perhaps the abundance of inexpensive and easily accessible objects makes it the disorder of the decade” (Cole 3). This quotes is very relevant to my views on how and why America seemed to be consumed by consumption. This isn’t just a coincidence but, an action that has turned into an emotion. Buying items used to be dependent on necessity but now it is based on the feeling. To buy items people enjoy themselves and it turns into a leisurely activity. Because of the emotion shopping creates, individuals who suffer from depression use this as an outlet and tend to buy at

While I do hold onto some items longer than I should, I am no hoarder and I do not wish to become one. Getting rid of all unnecessary belongings will significantly improve my organization skills as well as my family’s overall quality of life. If we were to adopt the simplistic style of living we would have less stress and overstimulation in our home. I’m excited to begin simplifying my home, to provide space to simply experience our lives together and hear God more

For mom, I reframed the word “hoarding” to collecting. Collecting is a work that doesn’t have a negative connotation.

This is a topic I was also considering writing a post on. Compulsive hoarding is a public health issue that is relatively stigmatized. As seen in the video, symptoms include a large amount of clutter in individuals's space, difficulty getting rid of things, impulsively buying or getting things to take home, as well as feeling embarrassed to let others see the home and refusing to let others in to help clean. Hoarding behaviors can begin as early as the teenage years but the average person seeking treatment in in their 50's ( Bratiotis,Otte, Steketee, Muroff, & Frost, 2009).

The phenomeon known as hoarding has gained public recognition propelled by A&E popular television show known as Hoarders. These graphic scenes provided an insight on the OCD disorder and the affliction it had on people lives. This literature review examines on approach to finding out if hoarding is taught or hereditary. The paper contrast the causes and the severe magnitude of hoarding. The international OCD Foundation estimates that one in every 50 people struggle with severe hoarding. This examination of this OCD disorder points out the history of people's lives that leads to hoarding and suggestions to a comprehesive solution that combines medical, social, behavioral, and political approaches to this complex problem.

There have been assumptions and conclusions made that led to the addition of hoarding disorder in the DSM-5. Hoarding was originally a part of the diagnostic criteria for Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, yet frequently linked to Obsessive- compulsive disorder because people with OCD may have experienced symptoms of hoarding. The association between these two can be explained by the relationships between obsessions and compulsions, and the purpose of hoarding. In terms of hoarding, obsessions are described as the fear or feelings of anxiety that results from losing sentimental value of an object. Compulsions are meant to ease the anxious feelings with hoarding behaviors, in which a person will save nonsense objects and attach sentimental

An estimated 700,000 to 1.4 million people in the United States are thought to have compulsive hoarding syndrome. (OCFoundation.org) Compulsive hoarding is not just a person who has an overwhelming coin or rock n roll memorabilia. People who hoard may have enormous difficulty throwing anything away such as water bottles, empty boxes, plastic bags, even old magazines in fear that they may use the item in a later time. Their homes are usually fill with items that the rest of the community would call "junk."

Ever since getting a credit card, online shopping has become a bit of an unhealthy habit of mine. For hours, I could browse Amazon and Ebay, craving for an amazing, life-changing deal. Despite this initial desire to obtain new material objects like clothing and vinyl records, often the luster of the purchase and affection towards the items wears off quickly over time, creating another void for the online purchasing cycle to fill again. Hence in the reading of Randy O. Frost’s and Gail Steketee’s book Stuff, I found the section pertaining to the difference between materialism and hoarding to be immensely interesting, as a fairly materialistic person myself.

Hoarding disorder is a psychological disorder that is described as “a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them” (Hall-Flavin). This disorder is known to affect 2-5% of the population and is treatable (Parekh). These people, known as hoarders, lead very dangerous lives that can cause serious harm to themselves and the surrounding people.

The most distinctive characteristics of individuals with compulsive hoarding is when they begin to collect an abnormal amount of a particular item or items because they are unable to get rid of them. “These behaviors result in an accumulation of possessions that clutter the active living areas of the home, workplace, yard, or vehicles, preventing normal use of the space (Murphy, 2014 p.21)”. These individuals may suffer severe distress when struggling to throw items away or have a hard time deciding whether or not to keep them. They may suffer from paranoia, believing that others are touching their possessions or that they might have discarded it by accident. Depending on the item they are having a hard time departing with, they will have obsessive

The obsessive compulsive disorder that a hoarder has causes them to hold onto each object in their home as if it is a precious commodity. This is because they have developed an emotional attachment to it all. So when it comes time to throw things away, expect some resistance to occur.

Many people believe hoarding is not a very serious condition. But, in 2013 hoarding became its own separate disorder. They used to believe that hoarding was linked to OCD, but recent studies show otherwise. Hoarding is the persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.This essay is going to cover the statistics of hoarding, the reasons and effects of people hoarding, and how to treat hoarding.

Hoarding disorder is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that is characterized by a difficulty of discarding or giving away items because of the alleged need to have them (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). There are many things that contribute to people developing this disorder, such as biological, psychological, and social factors. In the case of Jenny Irvine, a 35-year-old woman, symptoms started at a young age and developed into a serious case of hoarding disorder that she eventually sought out treatment for. In analyzing Jenny’s scenario, it is clear that there were major factors that played into her development hoarding disorder that can be traced back to her childhood through evaluating her symptoms and background information provided.

This is a hoarding problem and might explain a lot of things with your blog.