“Hoarding is distinct [from OCD] in many ways,” says Randy Frost, a renowned hoarding researcher and professor of psychology at Smith College in Massachusetts. Frost and other researchers are investigating the possibility that people hoard not out of anxiety (which underlies OCD), but on impulse. There are also indications that hoarding, which Frost estimates occurs in roughly 2 to 4 percent of the population, may be twice as prevalent as OCD. In addition, hoarding tends to intersect with other mental disorders, including clinical depression, anxiety disorders, attention deficit disorder, and schizophrenia. There is some evidence that certain hoarding behaviors can be passed down through families…
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Mental health researchers have long recognized that hoarding is one tough problem to treat. It’s tougher than schizophrenia. Tougher than OCD. Tougher than depression. Cleanings never stick. Medications haven’t worked. The only treatment that has seen limited success is cognitive-behavioral therapy, a time-consuming attempt to change a person’s thinking patterns through what essentially amounts to cheerleading and hand-holding, while gently challenging a person’s beliefs about his or her stuff.
