An estimated one to five percent of the general population suffers from compulsive hoarding. Hoarders are likely to be depressed or have anxiety or other social disorders, and the problem gets worse with age. In the case of older people, the situation is often complicated by additional serious physical and psychiatric conditions. An intervention in which a massive clean-up is done in a hoarder’s home doesn’t solve the problem and the effort will likely lead to anger and distrust in the future. However, Christiana Bratiotis, director of the Hoarding Research Project at the Boston University School of Social Work, says cognitive behavioral therapy can help.
Click here to read an informative post on Shots, the NPR Health Blog. Also, although a diagnosis of obsessive/compulsive behavior is now being challenged as the explanation for hoarding behavior, the International OCD Foundation offers a very useful site devoted to the problem. Click here for information.
