Introduction to Hoarding Disorder
Hoarding disorder (HD) is a highly complex condition with a host of implications for various fields of study, including psychology, sociology, law, and economics. Because it is so deeply related to so many aspects of human behaviour, psychologists have only very recently defined HD as a unique disorder with its own set of symptoms and treatments. This exhibit will discuss the evolution of that process in North America. To begin, however, defining HD according to its most recent conceptualizations will allow for a basic understanding of its features.
The Oxford Handbook of Hoarding and Acquiring states that hoarding is primarily characterized by three features: clutter, which is the most apparent manifestation and is visible to family, friends, and neighbours; difficulty in discarding, and the process of acquiring possessions. The vast majority of people who hoard display excessive levels of acquisition, which most frequently occurs through compulsive and/ or obsessive buying and the acquisition of free things, while a smaller proportion of people with HD also engage in stealing.
A core feature of the disorder is its impaired decision-making capacity. Information-processing deficits in people with HD include concentration problems, absentmindedness, failure in perception and memory, and slips of the mind. Some other important factors in hoarding can also be found in other disorders, and include a particularly inattentive type of ADHD; perfectionism; persistent self-regulatory failure; and avoidance behaviours such as a tendency to use escape and avoidance as methods of coping with unpleasant experiences. Hypersentimentality, or the exaggeration of attachment to possessions as representative of extensions of the self, is also important. Finally, hoarding is also linked to stress-related variables, since both clutter and excessive acquisition are seen as significant predictors of stress.
Differentiatiating between hoarding and collecting is often a difficult and complicated undertaking, but is essential to any attempt at HD analysis. Stephen Kellett and Kathryn Holden cite research by Pearce, 1998 in their discussion of emotional attachment to objects in hoarding for the statistic that up to one third of adults engage in some type of collecting. Further, they observe that the emotional aspect of relationships with objects is commonplace across individuals and cultures. “What demarcates hoarding from normal consumer behaviour (and also collecting),” they argue, is “that the strong emotional possession attachment appears ubiquitous across a myriad of apparently ‘useless’ objects, which also have no central theme.” This aspect of the disorder can be most detrimental to the hoarder’s personal relationships. Kellett and Holden also observe that “The manner and degree to which someone with hoarding (HD) can take pleasure or pride in, for example, a used/ empty can of beans is often nonsensical to the observer and is potentially a frequent source of frustration to other family members or services. The individual is displaying a positive preference and emotion for an object that serves no apparently practical function.”
A key distinction between hoarding and collecting, according to Russell Belk, is related to respectability. He writes that “Both hoarding and collecting are extreme consumption activities. They both involve acquiring, owning, and curating objects from the material world. But while collecting is generally revered, hoarding is generally reviled.” Belk views discipline as the deciding factor between the two, which involves making the rule-governed decision as to what items fall within the parameters of the collection as opposed to the erratic, random nature of hoarding acquisition discussed above. Some other qualities ascribes to collecting, which do not apply to hoarding, include active, passionate, and selective.
Another quality which can be attributed to collecting and not hoarding, both by outside observers and by the hoarders themselves, is the valorization of the acquiring process. Belk writes that “Although collecting may seem a highly materialistic pursuit inasmuch as it involves the ‘perpetual pursuit of inessential luxury goods,’ (Belk, 2001, p. 1), it can also be seen as an antimaterialistic practice (Belk, 1998). Often the collector sees himself or herself as on a Holy Grail-like quest for an ideal collection. He or she nobly sacrifices time, money, and learning on their collection.” Thus, the rule-governed nature of the collection process makes acquisition an achievement in a series of victories, rather than a symptom of poor judgement which is extremely difficult to justify to an onlooker.
Finally, a last differentiation between hoarding and collecting is related to the consumer’s self-perception. A collector believes that the items are an extension of his or herself, and thus the drive to complete the ideal collection is the drive to complete the ideal self. As will be seen in subsequent sections, hoarders do not generally experience the compulsion to acquire in such a linear, goal-oriented manner, and do not feel the same satisfaction in adding to their repertoire. Belk observes that “… A cluttered home overflowing with disorganized possessions is seen as disgusting and provokes shame, guilt, and embarrassment, whereas a collection classified, ordered, and displayed is more likely to be a source of pride. Both hoards and collections are seen to represent their creators, but the impressions they generate could not be more different.”
Hoarding vs. Collecting
The differentiation between hoarding and collecting is often a difficult and complicated undertaking, but is essential to any attempt at HD analysis. Stephen Kellett and Kathryn Holden cite research by Pearce, 1998 in their discussion of emotional attachment to objects in hoarding for the statistic that up to one third of adults engage in some type of collecting. Further, they observe that the emotional aspect of relationships with objects is commonplace across individuals and cultures. “What demarcates hoarding from normal consumer behaviour (and also collecting),” they argue, is “that the strong emotional possession attachment appears ubiquitous across a myriad of apparently ‘useless’ objects, which also have no central theme.” This aspect of the disorder can be most detrimental to the hoarder’s personal relationships. Kellett and Holden also observe that “The manner and degree to which someone with hoarding (HD) can take pleasure or pride in, for example, a used/ empty can of beans is often nonsensical to the observer and is potentially a frequent source of frustration to other family members or services. The individual is displaying a positive preference and emotion for an object that serves no apparently practical function.”
A key distinction between hoarding and collecting, according to Russell Belk, is related to respectability. He writes that “Both hoarding and collecting are extreme consumption activities. They both involve acquiring, owning, and curating objects from the material world. But while collecting is generally revered, hoarding is generally reviled.” Belk views discipline as the deciding factor between the two, which involves making the rule-governed decision as to what items fall within the parameters of the collection as opposed to the erratic, random nature of hoarding acquisition discussed above. Some other qualities he uses to describe collecting, which do not apply to hoarding, include active, passionate, and selective.
Another quality which can be attributed to collecting and not hoarding, both by outside observers and by the hoarders themselves, is the valorization of the acquiring process. Belk writes that “Although collecting may seem a highly materialistic pursuit inasmuch as it involves the ‘perpetual pursuit of inessential luxury goods,’ (Belk, 2001, p. 1), it can also be seen as an antimaterialistic practice (Belk, 1998). Often the collector sees himself or herself as on a Holy Grail-like quest for an ideal collection. He or she nobly sacrifices time, money, and learning on their collection.” Thus, the rule-governed nature of the collection process makes acquisition an achievement in a series of victories, rather than a symptom of poor judgement which is extremely difficult to justify to an onlooker.
Finally, a last differentiation between hoarding and collecting is related to the consumer’s self-perception. A collector believes that the items are an extension of his or herself, and thus the drive to complete the ideal collection is the drive to complete the ideal self. As will be seen in subsequent sections, hoarders do not generally experience the compulsion to acquire in such a linear, goal-oriented manner, and do not feel the same satisfaction in adding to their repertoire. Belk observes that “… A cluttered home overflowing with disorganized possessions is seen as disgusting and provokes shame, guilt, and embarrassment, whereas a collection classified, ordered, and displayed is more likely to be a source of pride. Both hoards and collections are seen to represent their creators, but the impressions they generate could not be more different.”