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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffHoarding is the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them. Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Some people also collect animals, keeping dozens or hundreds of pets often in unsanitary conditions.
Hoarding, also called compulsive hoarding and compulsive hoarding syndrome, may be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). But many people who hoard don't have other OCD-related symptoms.
People who hoard often don't see it as a problem, making treatment challenging. But intensive treatment can help people who hoard understand their compulsions and live safer, more enjoyable lives.
- Fact sheet: What is compulsive hoarding. International OCD Foundation. http://www.ocfoundation.org/uploadedFiles/Hoarding%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf?n=3557. Accessed March 14, 2011.
- Sansone RA, et al. Hoarding: Obsessive symptom or syndrome? Psychiatry. 2010;7:24.
- Tolin DF. Challenges and advances in treating hoarding. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2011. In press.
- Tolin DF. Understanding and treating hoarding: A biopsychosocial perspective. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2011. In press.
- Saxena S. Recent advances in compulsive hoarding. Current Psychiatry Reports. 2008;10:297.
- Storch EA, et al. Compulsive hoarding in children. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2011. In press.
- Tompkins MA. Working with families of people who hoard: A harm reduction approach. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2011. In press.
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