Hoarding Disorder Counselling in London | Treatment & Therapy

Hoarding is defined as a recurrent patterns of behaviour where the individual experiences a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 5th Edition (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013) 80-90% of hoarders also engage in excessive shopping and buying unnecessary items. DSM-5 reports that 2% to 6% of the population have a hoarding disorder.

Signs of Hoarding Disorder

Symptoms of hoarding disorder may include:

• Unable to discard possessions.
• Anxiety over the idea of discarding possessions.
• Limited living space in the home
• Feeling of isolation, loneliness
• Depression
• Withdrawal

Diagnosis of Hoarding Disorder

DSM-5 defines Hoarding Disorder (HD) as follows:

1. Persistent difficulty or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value.
2. This difficulty is due to a perceived need to save the items and to distress associated with discarding them.
3. The difficulty discarding possessions results in the accumulation of possessions that congest and clutter active living areas and substantially compromises their intended use. If living areas are uncluttered, it is only because of the interventions of third parties (eg. Family members, cleaners, authorities).
4. The hoarding causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning including ( including maintaining a safe environment for self and others).
5. The hoarding is not attributable to another medical condition (eg., brain injury, cerebrovasculat disease, Pracer-Willis syndrome).
6. The hoarding is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder (eg. Obsessions in obsessive-compulsive disorder, delusions in schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder, cognitive deficits in major neurocognitive disorder, restricted interests in autism spectrum disorder).

The DSM-V also advise clinicians to specify whether the individual is also experiencing “excessive acquisition” and to specify the person’s level of insight (good, fair, poor, or absent/delusional).