Posted on 02/28/2022 8:16:51 AM PST by Red Badger
Many of us may find we have acquired too many possessions that clutter our living spaces, but refuse to part with things "in case we might need them".
Although having too much stuff is something many of us can relate to, for some people, a persistent difficulty parting with possessions can become a problem: hoarding. When these tendencies significantly impair somebody's quality of life, this leads to a condition called hoarding disorder.
Curiously, understanding how hoarding manifests and how it relates to other difficulties in everyday life has not received much attention until recently. Only in 2013 was hoarding disorder officially recognized in the DSM-5 (the American Psychiatric Association's manual for assessing and diagnosing mental health conditions), and its key characteristics agreed upon.
In a recent study, we found people with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a significantly higher frequency of hoarding symptoms compared to the general population. This indicates that hoarding should be routinely assessed in those with ADHD.
Hoarding disorder is characterized by persistent difficulties discarding items, regardless of their actual value. This results in excessive accumulation of possessions that clutter living areas and compromise their intended use. Hoarding disorder leads to major distress and problems in socializing, work and other areas of daily functioning.
Anecdotally we know participants in hoarding research often report problems with attention, with many believing that they should have received a diagnosis of ADHD. Indeed, evidence does indicate that people with hoarding disorder experience greater problems with attention compared to others.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, with one of its key characteristics being problems with attention. "Inattention" encompasses issues with concentrating, but also considerable difficulties with organization, forgetfulness, procrastination and being easily distracted to a degree that impairs everyday functioning.
If there is a link between hoarding and inattention, then what about people with ADHD? Do they have more hoarding problems than most?
Our study We asked all patients in an adult ADHD clinic in the UK to complete a series of questionnaires about their traits and behaviors including hoarding. We had 88 people, one-third of the patients, take part. A control group with similar age, gender and education characteristics who did not have ADHD answered the same questions.
Using three different questionnaires, we applied thresholds previously established by hoarding researchers and clinicians to indicate hoarding disorder. Some 20 percent of participants with ADHD reported clinically significant hoarding symptoms, versus 2 percent in the comparison group (close to the 2.5 percent prevalence of hoarding disorder in the population).
Hoarding was roughly as common across both genders, with patients who exhibited hoarding symptoms aged on average in their 30s. Clinically significant hoarding in ADHD patients was associated with poorer quality of life and higher depression and anxiety.
People with ADHD who scored below the threshold for hoarding disorder still reported considerably greater issues with hoarding compared to the control group. Further, those with more severe attention problems were more likely to report problems with hoarding.
Even if not suffering from either ADHD or hoarding disorder, many people will relate to the difficulties characteristic of these conditions, demonstrating that symptoms exist along a continuum in the population.
We therefore reran the study online in 220 UK participants, finding this time that 3.6 percent scored above the threshold, and that there was again a strong link between inattention and hoarding.
The findings from our study, which we understand is the first to examine hoarding in adult ADHD patients, suggest that people with ADHD should be routinely assessed for hoarding symptoms – particularly given the limited awareness around any impairments associated with hoarding.
While patients did not spontaneously raise hoarding-related issues in the clinic, they did endorse them once explicitly raised in our study.
Research gaps A limitation of our study is that hoarding symptoms were investigated with self-reported questionnaires. Future studies should replicate the findings with trained clinical staff assessing hoarding through interviews. Future research should also investigate why this association between ADHD and hoarding disorder exists.
More generally, one challenge to understanding hoarding and providing effective treatment is that many of those who suffer from hoarding disorder have limited insight. This means they don't necessarily recognize or accept that they are suffering from a mental health condition, or that they have a problem at all.
Research on hoarding disorder has tended to focus on people who do come forward or those noticed by health and social care systems. Time and again studies describe samples of predominantly female participants in their late 50s.
But these participants tell of severe hoarding beginning much earlier in life, often by one's 20s. In addition, indirect evidence from demographic studies suggests that hoarding is evenly split across genders.
The evidence from our study indicates that our understanding of hoarding may be enriched by targeting these younger people with ADHD and hoarding to get a fuller understanding of their symptoms. This could ultimately support more effective interventions and treatments in both ADHD and hoarding disorder, and help illuminate the link between the two.
Sharon Morein, Associate Professor in Psychology and Mental Health, Anglia Ruskin University.
Prisoners of war frequently become food hoarders, for a while. at least. I knew someone who had been a prisoner in Germany in WWII. He said coming back on the boat after the war all the former prisoners took food from the mess hall and hid it in their bunks.
I agree with you. Seems like an excuse to label people that “prepare” as having mental health problems, maybe they need some “red flag” laws for those people /s/.
The ADHD might come into play when people try to come out of the hoarding. Might not be involved for everyone.
That made me legitimately laugh out loud.
I have a friend...told the school to go to hell...and the young problem child (cough cough) is an MD today.
P.S. Schools get extra bucks for all these problem children.
Most of the time, my wife and I compliment/urge each other to get rid of stuff not really needed here any more.
Stuff gets trashed, recycled, left at curbside for others* or repurposed on a regular basis.
Our city has an incredible free service that works daily to get rid of what you are not using.
*Often, we just leave stuff by the curb with a sign saying free. The only problem is sometimes, they take the “free” sign.
Our garbage service has a great special curbside pickup. You put the stuff into a wheel barrow and let them know the day before garbage day you have a wheelbarrow of stuff. We get rid of computers, tvs, radios, furniture and whatever we don’t need nor use any more. Sometimes the regular street scavengers get to the stuff before the garbage service does. No problem.
The small town and neighboring bigger town in the Mid West, where my wife grew up has put your goodbye stuff in your driveway, 2 weekends of the year. Even the businesses often get into this “get rid of stuff”!
One of her relatives sends before and after pics of the driveways on the block where they live. It is amazing how much stuff is repurposed/recycled with others.
Before all of the pandemic crap, a couple of banks provided free shredding services. You bring a kinko box full of stuff to be shredded. Hand the box to a worker. He/she empties it into the big shredder and hands the empty box back. Often, they use a drive through service with items to be shredded in the boxes in the trunk of your vehicle.
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Seems to me the /s should not have been added.
They’ll do anything to red flag someone.
Best to not talk to anyone about what you have prepped.
Back it up ten times, keep a set at the office, another at the neighbor’s, another at church, another at your adult child’s home, another at a Greyhound Bus station locker, another in the Cloud, another at your mother’s house, another at your wife’s mother’s house, ................................
Same here. We put stuff out to the curb and then we try to guess how long before it disappears.
One A$$hole took my garbage can...................
I don’t think so.
My grandson (12) is diagnosed with ADHD and is slightly autistic.
He has always hoarded his toys and personal belongings. He will line up stuff / toys in his room and it had better not change or he will be immediately upset. We noticed this behavior when he was 3 and it hasn’t changed.............
This is my husband, but VERY mild and emotion driven.
Glad to be of service
Good grief! I clearly remember straightening bent nails during the 1950s and 60s.
People who love those with ADHD know how real ADHD is.
The person with ADHD is suffering, and those who love them recognize that. It explains a lot of otherwise puzzling behavior. And the experience is heart breaking.
The wiring is crossed, and that becomes obvious over time. Prayer to the Holy Spirit (IMO) is effective, both for the person who suffers and the person who loves them.
Like so much of what God does, if a person seems to be drawn outside the lines, there is a lesson and love involved.
“I’ll have to download this article, then backup my storage”
LOL! OH my goodness. After the fire that took my community, I stayed with a friend (the only person who would take my cat.. NO motels!) who I found out was a hoarder. I almost worked myself to death and his reasoning sounded just like that!
After plundering by the Vikings?.................
My daughter is 25, and she has some other neurological issues.
She’s still trying to figure out all that is going on.
When she was in college, they said it was a mental health issue. I think because she had a normal MRI.
Now, they aren’t as sure because her latest MRI was definitely not normal.
Thank you fir pointing that out. I know a “saver”. Her house is very clean and tidy. There is just way too much saved.
Every time I’m ready to clean out the junk room, along comes another crisis where I might need something in there. Those old crutches, potty chair, extra blankets, heaters, old camping stuff, etc. sure came in handy this crazy year.
To think we used to laugh at grandma for having hundreds of rolls of tp and paper towels.
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