What help is available for hoarders?

Psychotherapy, also called talk therapy, is the primary treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most common form of psychotherapy used to treat hoarding disorder. Try to find a therapist or other mental health professional with experience in treating hoarding disorder.

Who to call if someone is a hoarder?

Hoarding is a mental illness, and you might need to seek assistance from a state or local government agency in dealing with a neighbor who suffers from it.

What is the root cause of hoarding?

What causes hoarding? Hoarding is a severe psychological disorder where a person gathers an excessive number of items and stores them. The reasons someone become a hoarder include altered brain connections, genetics, stress, OCD, environmental factors and altered levels of serotonin.

What should you not say to a hoarder?

Some things to avoid doing and saying to a hoarder include the following:

• Don’t Touch Their Belongings Without Permission.
• Don’t Expect a Quick Clean-Up.
• Don’t Judge Them.
• Don’t Enable Hoarding Behavior.
• Don’t Clean Up After Them.
• Don’t Expect Perfection.

What is a Level 3 hoarder?

A level 3 hoarder has visible clutter outside their home, and a level 4 hoarder adds rotting food, excessive bugs and poor animal sanitation to the issue. Level 5 is the most severe hoarding level and involves extreme clutter, animals that pose a risk to people and seriously unsanitary conditions.

Why can’t hoarders throw anything away?

A new study finds abnormal activity in brain regions of people with hoarding disorder who were asked to make decisions about keeping something versus tossing it. The brain regions involved are known to be involved with decision-making under uncertain conditions as well as risk assessment and emotional choices.

What is psychologically wrong with hoarders?

Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. Excessive accumulation of items, regardless of actual value, occurs.

What kind of mental illness does a hoarder have?

Hoarding is a disorder that may be present on its own or as a symptom of another disorder. Those most often associated with hoarding are obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression.