A clean home is something that should come easy for anyone. Most people would consider anyone with a dirty and cluttered home to be lazy or filthy, but many are unaware of the psychological disorder Hoarding, which affects about 5% of the population, both men and women (Neziroglu, n.d.). Hoarding is the act of one having difficulties separating from their belongings. Although many confuse hoarding with collecting, there is a significant difference from the two. Those who collect, gather a specific product as a hobby or a profession, but those with a Hoarding disorder keep items without a notable worth and it accumulates in areas that were previously used for living. It is believed that hoarding is caused by a deficiency with a person’s …show more content…
Some notable symptoms of a hoarder may include excessive anxiety, inability to organize, inability to decide what to keep, accusing others of taking their belongings, health hazards, financial problems, loss of space to live in and obsession of purchasing items for the future. Severe hoarding not only affects the person hoarding, but it also affects those surrounding them. It causes strong feelings of displeasure towards loved ones with a hoarding disorder, shame, and has shown to affect social development of children that are raised in that type of environment (Neziroglu, n.d.). Hoarding does not discriminate on age or sex, but it is proven to affect women more than men. The only known treatments for hoarding is psychotherapy, or therapy talk that helps one develop better decision making and problem- solving skills. Although this may sound demeaning it is a reality that …show more content…
The total number of people who participated in this study were 443 of which, 217 of them were previously diagnosed with Hoarding Disorder (HD), 96 who were previously diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and the 130 participants that were not from a clinical setting. Although the amount was not specified, the study consisted of both male and females which of whom were of White, African American, Asian American, Native American, and Hispanic race whose ages varied from 19 years to 74 years of age. The candidates educational background was of the same level with similar years of college education. So that a large variety could be included the researchers did not require Hoarding Disorder to be a prime diagnosis, but it did have to be at least a secondary diagnosis. The candidates also had to meet the standard guidelines, according to what the DSM-IV, for either OCD or HD. They also did not allow for them to have been diagnosed with any other mental disorder except for certain phobias. The study also did not allow people who had suicidal tendencies, thoughts or people who abused drugs (Steketee, et al,
Do you tend to keep old things in order to preserve memories from the past? Do you know that it can be classified as a kind of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, a mental illness? The award-winning Canadian author Carrie Mac sets her story in this hardly touched field in her novel The Opposite of Tidy. Junie, an ordinary 16 year old girl in high school, appears to be no different from others. However, nobody knows how difficult her life has been: Junie’s mom is a compulsive hoarder, and her hoarding drives her husband away. Junie, in attempt to hide her embarrassing family from Wade, her new boyfriend, tells lies one after another. That’s why Junie panics when the TV show Kendra arrives at her house, because all her secrets, lies, and her mother’s hoarding are about to be exposed to the whole world. What will happen to Junie? Will Wade leave her? Most importantly, “how do you come clean when your life is a mess?” Carrie Mac employs a well-chosen title, conversational style of writing, and thought-provoking themes in The Opposite of Tidy to reflect people’s desires and struggles to gain control of their life.
1. The main idea is not only that owning stuff is not the key to happiness, it’s also that consumers today own more than they need to thrive which directly impacts the environment. Hill illustrates the environmental impact by showing statistics of global warming today versus the past century, and how consumerism is leading to a hotter climate. Hill debunks claims of buying happiness by discussing a study where stress hormones spike to their highest when people are managing their personal belongings. Hill’s most prominent example that consumerism is not the answer is himself, as he discusses some of the most stressful times of his life being right after coming into a large sum of money and buying whatever he fancied. When Hill concludes his article, he states that “I have less—and enjoy more. My space is small. My life is big” (213).
Hoarding is an addiction that is both socially debilitating and alarmingly enigmatic. While compulsive hoarding is classified as it’s own respective disorder, it is also a rather extreme form of addiction. Often kept under wraps and undiagnosed, attention is seldom brought to the secret lives of hoarders.
It is an obsession and a disease. This is why animal hoarding needs to be taken more seriously. 250,000 animals fall captive to animal hoarding each year (ASPCA.org). It is not only the life of the animal we are looking at, it is the life of a person as well. If animal hoarding continues to go unnoticed many more animals’ lives will be put in danger. The person may be to blame, but in many cases, it is all they know, it is how they cope, it is how they fill a void that has been left empty for many years. This is so much more than people think. It goes deeper than most people think. There is a mental aspect to this that no one wants to look and see. People need the help, and in order for them to get that, the animal hoarding needs to be identified. A very popular case of animal hoarding is the case that involved Vikki Kittles. The case happened in the year of 1985. It may be an older case, but it gives many examples as to why animal hoarding needs to be taken seriously, and why more people should be educated on the subject. In the year of 1985 Vikki Kittles’ neighbor had called the police complaining of an awful stench coming from her Vikki’s house. When the cops arrived, they had found 35 dogs, three cats, and two horses living in the house with Vikki and her 75-year-old mother (aldf.org). She claimed that these horses were in the house because she believed that the “enemy” was trying to poison them.
OCD has symptoms such as compulsive hoarding, extreme anxiety, depression, and food aversions. It currently has no sure cause but it has said to be a product of genetics or abnormalities in the brain and serotonin levels as controlling serotonin tends to help in treatment of OCD. Obsessive Compulsive disorder is seen in 2.3% of Americans. It’s more prominent in adults than in children.
Animal hoarding is an issue in every division of society around the world (Donaghey 2011). Whether rich or poor, there may still be an animal hoarder living right next door (Donaghey 2011). In some situations there may be obvious signs that a person is a hoarder; however, others live seemingly regular lives to the public eye and the problem is growing. Animal hoarding is a growing problem because of the lack of understanding of the issue and lack of action.
Imagine, a day where making any type of purchase was simply not allowed. No food, no gas, no items, none of the above. A single day without using money to purchase any good. Sounds difficult doesn’t it? “Buy Nothing Day,” which was originally developed in Canada, is a day in which citizens around the world are urged not to purchase goods in order to promote the awareness of excessive consumerism. However, the establishment of such a day will have negative impact not just on the people of the world, but the economy as a whole as well. There will be many consequences to the actions of “Buy Nothing Day” such as lower revenues for local businesses, a stunt in economic growth, and international companies to recess in the stock market due to the
Some symptoms of Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are fear of germs, perfectionism, and rituals. When someone has OCD they are afraid of germs and might constantly be washing their hands or cleaning their room. Someone who suffers from OCD needs everything to be perfect and they might organize their closet by color size. Their rituals calm their anxiety. Certain rituals are things such as checking the stove a certain number of times to make sure it is off or tap their finger a number of times just because it makes them feel better. Obsessive compulsive disorder can be associated with other mental disorders that cause stress and anxiety, but it can be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy and medication.
A house is simply a structure where one lives, sleeps and eats. A home is a structure accumulated with love, memories, and lessons learned. “Homes have stopped being homes. Now they are real estate.” (Quindlen) These structures are no longer viewed as places of experience and reminiscence, they are given a literal and unemotional purpose. Perhaps the reason as to why nearly one million people are homeless is because they are no longer provided with the pure substance of what a home represents. A home is “everything” , one cannot be a fulfilled individual without one for it offers a sense of self, demonstrates a loving relationship and provides an unfailing feeling of entitlement.
This case paper is about Lucinda, a 20-year old single female, who suffers from the Cleaning/Contamination Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) condition since she was very young. She is characterized by intrusive thoughts, images, and/or impulses that cause distress (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors that are performed to neutralize these intrusions (Coles, Schofield & Pietrefesa, 2006), i.e. her repetitive cleaning and washing behaviors. Her anxiety became so excessive that it interfered with her daily life. She perceived that some undesirable object(s), in this case the germs, were still on the things that she will come in contact with, even after she had repeatedly washing and/or cleaning them. Her anxiety further degraded both her social and occupational functioning, which resulted in considerable impacts to herself, her friends and family. In additions, her anxiety also caused her not be able to function to her fullest potential academically and to socialize with her friends and family as much as she wanted to.
Utilizing a person centered approach focusing on Mr. Stone and not the environment, the social worker will work with Mr. Stone to determine the cause of his hoarding behavior. The social worker will establish trust with Mr. Stone by acknowledging his attachments to his items and not removing them unless permission is granted. Trust with Mr. Stone will also be established by reflecting professional openness and honestly as it relates to the severity of the hoarding condition; the social worker will not minimize possible consequences to his situations which may include the social worker seeking out other professionals who are legally obligated to provide intervention. The social worker will work with Mr. Stone to develop an initial short term objective that can easily be achieved within a minimal
Compulsive hoarding has been universally defined by researchers as a chronic behavioral syndrome that is categorized by three unique qualities: the extreme retention and failure to dispose of an abundant quantity of useless objects, living environments so condensed with clutter that it compromises day-to-day living for its occupants, and finally a significant provocation of anxiety or distress caused by the hoarding (Franks et al. 79). Although the definition of compulsive hoarding is universally accepted, the cau...
undiagnosed. Patients obsessively wash, check something or hoard things to relieve themselves of an overwhelming anxiety, and are fully aware their behavior is abnormal. This research studies a 23-year-old married woman who sought treatment for a severe washing and cleaning problem and how the patient was treated. I will discuss how the patient was diagnosed, and treated with a form of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy or CBT (exposure and response treatment) and what medications can be used for treatment.
One of the main themes of Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt is the idea that while searching for the truth of a subject the researchers becomes possessed by their search. Byatt uses many characters as a vehicle for this idea, but the best character that illustrates this would be Mortimer Cropper. Mortimer Cropper is a Randolph Henry Ash scholar. Randolph Henry Ash is one of the most renowned poets in the novel. He is very famous and is an inspiration and influence to many of the poets in the modern age. Mortimer Cropper is the biggest collector and most well-known Ash scholar. He spends his live obsessed with anything having to do with Randolph Ash. From the start of the novel Mortimer Cropper is introduced as a very intimidating and possessive character. When new Ash artifacts are found and his rival Blackadder finds out of them he talks about Cropper immediately by saying “Cropper will have been through [the artifacts] with a tooth comb [already]”(Byatt 35). This shows just how possessed with his work Cropper really is. New artifacts, that no one has ever seen, of Randolph Henry Ash have been found and already it is thought that Cropper has, not only seen then but, already examined them with “tooth comb.” Jackie, Buxton writer of the scholarly article on possession What’s Love Got to Do with It? writes “Possession also exhibits a postmodern obsession with "the question of how we can come to know the past today”. The American academic, Mortimer Cropper, seeks to own the past by accumulating its material artifacts”(Buxton). This shows just how large Cropper’s obsession with Ash can be. Even a Possession scholar identifies this as worth mentioning. Cropper wants to own the past by collection thing that belonged to Ash. Cropper ha...
This happens through minimising everything in one’s life, including their households as well as other belongings. However, over time people will realise that those things they currently own are not requisite, therefore throwing them away is not an awful thing at all. In fact, when a person removes all their possessions at home, other things will open (Gardner, 2018). When getting rid of all their expensive belongings, people will realize that those things are not a necessity, therefore can be discarded, and they will end up saving a lot of money. Subsequently, people will save plenty of time due to the several amounts of work load they have removed. Moreover, plenty of money can be saved easily through applying a minimalistic lifestyle. The simple thing needed to make their life much easier is very easy to carry out. People will realise some day that when they need less money, they do not have to work as much (Gardner, 2018), and this is what minimalization does, it makes life simplistic. Therefore, having a minimalistic lifestyle helps a person become more relaxed since they will have more time to complete less things, which is what everyone hopes to achieve in their life, joy, and