What Constitutes The Behavior of
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It is difficult for many of to understand compulsive hoarding, but such a person may live near you. Because they do not seek treatment for their obsession, it goes unreported. With the aging population, there is a new problem being identified by those providing care for elderly parents or aging seniors. Homes, apartments or living quarters so filled with unnecessary items from floor to ceiling, the individual living there cannot move from one room to the next. Many families and care givers are faced with health and safety code violations.
What constitutes a hoarders an individual that has a difficult time throwing anything away. In fact, many individuals are compulsive about collecting and will actually buy things or save things out of someone else’s trash. Once they have acquired their new item, they do not have a system in place to organize their things. On the contrary, there space becomes cluttered and highly disorganized.
They develop an unnatural emotional relationship with their things. They put things in places you and I would not think to normally would. They seem to challenge their brain by remembering where something is. An individual that does not think like a hoarder will develop a system to keep things in order.
For example, when mail comes in, we sort it and put the bills to be paid in one file and throw the unnecessary mail in the trash. A compulsive hoarder takes the bills and may put them the middle of a pile of papers that extends to the ceiling. Then when it is time to pay the bill, they will seek out the bill in their special bill file. The unnecessary mail is placed in another pile, as it may be of use some day.
Individuals that have a compulsive hoarding disorder rationalize everything about their lives. They can rationalize that the items may be of value some day, it is still in good condition and they may need it in the future, or that it has some sort of sentimental value to them. In fact, in today’s world the hoarder will rationalize that they are recycling and doing the right thing to save the planet.
Compulsive hoarding causes individuals to become very protective of their belongings In fact, they have such a deep and strong emotional tie with their things; they have an inability to separate themselves from their belongings. Many view throwing their things out as losing part of themselves.
Care givers and family members have an instant and overwhelming emotional response to the living conditions that become the prison of the hoarder. When we see and smell the awful conditions, they instantly feel that cleaning and removing the built up debris will solve the problem. Think again. The hoarder feels a sense of comfort in the chaos and their belongings.
It is important to understand that you cannot make someone change their behavior if they are not ready. So you must approach a hoarder from a different direction. You must help them realize how this behavior has affected their life.
Individuals that hoard are perfectionists and have very strong and rigid beliefs about the acquiring and discarding of their belonging. The process of what needs to be thrown out saved can emotionally paralyze an individual into inactivity. There is such a catastrophic illogical unfounded fear of making the wrong decision that indecision, often thought to be a postponed decision, only continues the hoarding cycle.
Keep the lines of communication opened. When having discussions with the hoarder, it is important to focus on what they cannot do in their daily life because of the clutter. Speak in a non judgmental tone, non accusatory tone. It is important that they be treated with dignity and respect.
Compulsive hoarding causes many to have to deal with broken plumbing, not having hot water, air conditioning or even a working oven or stove. The shame, the clutter, the debris keeps many from having anything repaired, because no one can get into the house!
Make suggestions on ways to organize the belongings in a fashion that will allow the socially isolated individual to carry out the functions of daily living. Be prepared to be met with stiff resistance, anger and mistrust if you offer to move or assist with the organization. You can offer to help, but do not allow yourself to try and take charge of the situation. Remember, the hoarder does not feel that they have a problem.
Many communities are seeing a rise in the aging population and the consequences of years of hoarding behaviors. They have developed task forces to handle this growing problem.
The majority of cases are only brought to the awareness of the public when a medical or environmental disaster occurs. Floors in homes have been known to fall due to the weight of the piled up debris, individuals injured or killed by their own debris. Those debilitated by compulsive hoarding can just about rationalize themselves right into the grave.
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