What is hoarding disorder?

If you need to talk to someone about your mental health, call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

Hoarding disorder is when you find it very hard to get rid of things or throw them away, even if they don't have much value. You may believe you might need to keep that information or item for use later, and it can be distressing to throw items away.

This causes your things and rubbish to build up and clutter your living areas.

Hoarding disorder is a recognised mental illness, which gets worse over time.

People with hoarding disorder may not understand their condition. They often feel a lot of shame about their situation.

If you have hoarding disorder, you may not understand that:

• you have a problem, or if you do, you may not know what to do about it
• you can't use your surroundings due to the clutter

What's the difference between collecting and hoarding?

Many people collect things as a hobby — such as stamps, magazines and teacups. But there are differences between collecting and hoarding.

People who collect things are more likely to carefully display or store their collection in a specific place. Collectors are also more likely to use or enjoy their collection.

While hoarders tend to:

• keep things because they believe those items will be useful in the future — but often these things aren't used
• keep things in a disorganised way, with no specific way of storing them

With hoarding, your belongings tend to take over large areas of your home.

People with hoarding disorder hold on to their possessions because it is upsetting to get rid of them.

Collecting and hoarding are not closely connected.

What are the symptoms of hoarding disorder?

Signs of hoarding can be:

• keeping items of low financial value such as newspapers or empty containers
• needing to keep items and becoming distressed if faced with having to get it of them
• having too many things leading to limited living space

What sort of things do people hoard?

Someone with hoarding disorder may hoard anything, but common items include:

• clothing
• ornaments
• broken items — for spare parts or to repair them
• kitchenware
• car parts
• old bills
• newspapers
• magazines, books and brochures

Items inherited from someone who has died may be especially difficult. This is because there can be many items, they can be meaningful and are linked to grief and loss.

Animal hoarding

Animals can be hoarded too, especially small domestic ones, such as:

• cats
• rabbits
• dogs
• birds

Animal hoarding can easily lead to squalor. Animal food and animal waste can pile up quickly. People in the house can be at risk of:

• parasites
• zoonotic disease — diseases that can be caught from animals

The person may believe they are caring for the animals. But they may not really be doing this very well.

What causes hoarding disorder?

The reasons why people begin to hoard are not fully understood. It can be a symptom of another condition. Sometimes hoarding may be due to:

• mobility problems
• intellectual impairment
• the development of dementia
• mental health problems

Hoarding disorder often starts early in life. It is linked to some personality traits, such as:

• perfectionism
• difficulty with making decisions
• procrastination (delaying tasks until later, often by finding distractions)

Perfectionism in hoarding is linked to a fear of making mistakes, losing or misplacing a specific item and of later regret.

Related conditions

People with hoarding disorder may have another illness, such as:

• acquired brain injury
• autism spectrum disorder
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• schizophrenia

When should I see my doctor?

If you think you or a family member might have a hoarding disorder, talk to your doctor.

Your doctor should be able to refer you to a psychologist with experience in hoarding disorders. They can also advise you on other services that may be able to help.

Your doctor will also be able to check that any other physical health conditions are recognised and being treated.

How is hoarding disorder treated?

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the recommended treatment for hoarding disorder.

CBT encourages you to talk through how you think about:

• yourself
• the world
• other people

It also explores the relationship between your behaviour, thoughts and feelings.

CBT can help make the hoarding disorder less severe. It will help you work on:

• goal setting
• organising and problem solving skills
• sorting and getting rid of things
• reality checking

At the end of treatment, you will have a better understanding of the problem.

Some antidepressants have shown to help with hoarding disorder, but the evidence for their use isn't strong.

How to help someone with hoarding disorder

Helping someone with hoarding disorder is stressful and takes patience and understanding.

It's usually not a good idea to:

• criticise the person
• use blunt, negative language — such as this place is a dump
• clear the rubbish away

This won't solve the problem, and the clutter often builds up quickly again.

You can encourage them to get help and offer support. SANE Australia has useful tips to help someone who hoards.

What are the complications of hoarding disorder?

Hoarding can make it hard to move around your home.

This can make it hard to:

• clean your home
• maintain your personal hygiene — because you can't get to the toilet or washing facilities
• have visitors
• allow tradespeople in for essential repairs

You may not be able to sleep in your bed, because it is covered in things.

Hoarding can also lead to safety risks. Hoarding can:

• be a fire risk
• attract insects and rodents
• cause trips and falls

If the piles of things collapse, you may become trapped.

Hoarding disorder can lead to squalor (living in an unsanitary environment).

Can hoarding disorder be prevented?

Hoarding disorder is a mental illness and there is no known way to prevent it.

If someone close to you is displaying hoarding behaviour, it's best to be there for them and to encourage them to seek help.

Resources and support

For advice and to get connected to local mental health services, call Medicare Mental Health on 1800 595 212. Check the operating times.

FriendLine supports anyone who's feeling lonely, needs to reconnect or just wants a chat. You can call them 7 days a week on 1800 424 287, or chat online with one of their trained volunteers. All conversations with FriendLine are anonymous.

If you need to talk to someone about your mental health, call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.