Wednesday, October 28, 2009


Hoarding has been seen all over the media lately, thanks to shows like Oprah and Dr. Phil.

What is Hoarding?

Hoarding is a term that is widely used to refer to a broad number of behaviors ranging from mere messiness to extreme clutter that prohibits daily functioning. In severe cases, the amount of clutter poses a threat to health and safety.

While non-clinical hoarding refers to what most people would consider your average "pack-rat" or "clutter bug," clinical or compulsive hoarding is the term that is typically used in reference to a specific mental health condition.

Many researchers believe that compulsive hoarding is connected to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), though hoarding behaviors can be associated with other conditions, as well.*

According to Frost and Hartl (1996), the definition of compulsive hoarding is threefold:

-The excessive accumulation of a large number of possessions that appear to others to be useless or of limited value, coupled with the failure or inability to discard them;

-The amount of clutter in living spaces is so extensive that it prevents or severely limits the intended uses or functions of the spaces;

-The clutter, acquiring, or difficulty discarding causes significant distress or impairment in functioning.

Check out my new photos "Extreme Makeover" project - hoarding.

Living room before

me in action

Living room after

1 comment:

  1. Ive heard about hoarding and not being able to get rid of anything. Must be a pain to have all of your stuff everywhere! Wow, I would certainly hate to lose my keys in that mess. I would recommend checking out some sort of self storage facilities in Houston if you really need to keep everything you own. Just doing a quick GOOGLE search I was able to come across amazing spaces. They are located in Houston. Good Luck.