HOARDING DISORDER

GENERAL INFORMATION

Individuals with Hoarding Disorder voluntarily keep their possessions and experience anguish when faced with the prospect of discarding them. There is a high risk of having an accident due to falling or fires or diseases because of the number of accumulated objects. Excessive storing of items prevents the person from accomplishing daily tasks within the home, as all the rooms are crowded making them impossible to use. This causes the environment to become an unsafe place for the person and anyone sharing the space. Family relationships are often tense, and conflicts are common because of the state of disorder in which these people live. This can generate isolation and loneliness for the person suffering from this disorder.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the characteristics of this disorder?
There is a difficulty getting rid of objects and a disarray that covers most of the space within the home offering little access to essential or important objects due to the excessive accumulation. Deterioration of work, social and family life occurs as a response to the accumulating behavior.

When can this disorder begin?
It can occur in the early stages of life and extend to the third age. The first symptoms of accumulation may arise between 11 and 15 years and be triggered around the middle of the second decade, causing a clinically significant deterioration in the middle of the third decade of life. The severity of the disorder increases with each decade of life.

What characteristics are associated with Hoarding Disorder?
Other common features associated with hoarding include indecision, perfectionism, avoidance, difficulty in planning and organizing tasks, and loss of attention.

OUR TREATMENT MODEL

CADE offers a multidisciplinary treatment according to the characteristics and needs of the patient that is based on the patient´s diagnosis and an individual intervention plan.

A psychological or psychiatric disorder generally has a genetic or biological origin detonated by difficult and early or current traumatic experiences that lead the individual to become ill. Therefore, the clinical intervention in these disorders necessitates the multidisciplinary work of psychiatry, psychology, medicine, nutrition and complementary therapies. The treatment can be outpatient, inpatient or semi-inpatient based.