Quiz: Hoarder or Messy?
Being a collector is a fun, positive experience for many hobbyists, but what if begins to affect your health and relationships in a negative way? Compulsive hoarding is at the other end of the collecting spectrum, and hoarding can create an atmosphere of chaos, anxiety and depression.
Wondering what your own clutter says about you? Take our quiz, packed full of expert information from mental health professionals.
Compulsive hoarding is typically considered what type of mental disorder?
Anxiety disorder
Mood disorder
Psychotic disorder
Substance disorder
While compulsive hoarding can by a symptom of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and some addiction disorders it's most often seen in patients who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Research being conducted by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The John Hopkins University School of Medicine has found that hoarding symptoms occur in about 30 percent of people with OCD and in twice as many males than females. In a small number of cases hoarding behavior can result from a neurological problem such as a stroke that affects the part of the brain that handles decision-making.
How many Americans are compulsive hoarders?
1.2 million
3 million
20.9 million
About half of all Americans
Dr. David Tolin, founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at The Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital, estimates that about 3 to 6 million Americans may suffer from severe compulsive hoarding symptoms severe enough to impact their daily lives.
Which of the following is not a cause of compulsive hoarding?
Problems with aggression
Emotional distress about discarding possessions
A strong emotional attachment toward ones possessions
Trouble deciding what is valuable and what is not
People with compulsive hoarding issues frequently have problems with information processing, certain beliefs about their possessions and have distress and anxiety about their possessions and objects they wish to acquire, but generally do not hoard because of aggression or anger issues.
What is the name of the assessment tool developed by the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD)?
Simpson-Angus Scale
Subjective Well-being on Neuroleptics Scale
Clutter-Hoarding Scale
Chronic Disorganization Scale
The Clutter-Hoarding Scale was developed by the NSGCD as a tool for professional organizers to evaluate the levels of health and safety in a home. It measures household clutter and hoarding tendencies on a scale of 1 to 5 (Level I is low while Level IV is high) in four categories:
- Structure & Zoning Issues
- Pets & Rodents
- Household Functions
- Sanitation & Cleanliness
True or false: Not all hoarders excessively collect or save objects; some hoard animals.
True
False
According to The Humane Society of the United States, an estimated 250,000 animals suffer from animal hoarding every year. Animal health professionals at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University have reported incidences with as many as 1,000 animals living in a single-family home.
Which is not a characteristic of hoarding?
Repeatedly acquiring and saving unneeded things
A living space so cluttered by acquisitions it disrupts moving around
Sleep disturbances
Procrastination and indecisiveness
Withdrawal from relationships and activities that were once pleasurable
Compulsive hoarding affects a person's thoughts, emotions and behaviors, but not necessarily sleep. In fact, the things hoarders collect may hold emotional significance, and hoarders generally report feeling safer when surrounded by their possessions.
According to Clairmarie Szopa, MS, LCPC, NCC, adjunct faculty at National-Louis University and counselor at Choices Counseling & Coaching, "a hoarder's anxiety mounts until it becomes unbearable and is momentarily soothed by acquiring an item, even it that item is a duplicate of something already owned. In a compulsive situation the desire feels like a genuine need and is nearly constant and unrelenting."
According to Clairmarie Szopa, MS, LCPC, NCC, adjunct faculty at National-Louis University and counselor at Choices Counseling & Coaching, "a hoarder's anxiety mounts until it becomes unbearable and is momentarily soothed by acquiring an item, even it that item is a duplicate of something already owned. In a compulsive situation the desire feels like a genuine need and is nearly constant and unrelenting."
Hoarding runs in families: True or False?
True
False
Studies indicate that the tendency is greater in those who have family members who hoard. Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The John Hopkins University School of Medicine found that 84 percent of compulsive hoarders report hoarding behaviors in at least one first-degree relative.
One of the following treatments is not used as a strategy for alleviating hoarding symptoms and triggers:
Pharmacotherapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Residential treatment
Intensive multimodal treatment
Psychodynamic therapy
Medications usually used to treat OCD are frequently used in treating people who hoard, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), pharmacotherapy and intensive multimodal treatment. A small number of hoarders have found that antidepressants (specifically, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) help manage emotions. Cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic and multimodal therapies can also help change hoarders' thinking about their possessions and identify underlying issues.
True or false: Hoarding symptoms are commonly seen only in adults.
True
False
The onset of hoarding symptoms is believed to start in adolescence (around age 12) or even as early as childhood, although the disorder can be insidious and symptoms aren't usually recognized until later in life when the disorder may have reached epic proportions. According to the University of California at San Diego Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Clinic, compulsive hoarders who participate in research studies are typically an average age of 50.
Compulsive hoarders may be at risk for health issues due to all of the following except:
Fire hazards
Unsanitary conditions
Obesity
Stroke
Cardiac and respiratory problems
Clutter, trash, infestations and animal or human waste all pose health risks including respiratory and other illness. Additionally anxiety, depression and lack of mobility may result in increased cardiac and respiratory dysfunction as well as obesity. Clutter may block exits resulting in the inability to escape in an emergency, or even prepare food.
Hoarder
It's not our place to judge, but you just might be a hoarder. If you feel hoarding might be a problem for you, consult a doctor.
Pack Rat?
Hoarder or just a pack rat? You be the judge. Either way, how about donating some of your stuff to charity?
Organized!
Good job! Now the REAL question: If you're not a hoarder, are you just a messy person? Only you can answer that.
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