Sunday, April 19, 2009

How to know if you're a compulsive hoarder

By Eric Adler, McClatchy Newspapers

Barely a decade ago, most researchers considered compulsive hoarding a sub-symptom of other disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder or — because a lot of hoarders find themselves compelled to shop — an impulse-control disorder. Hoarding is also seen in some people with dementia, schizophrenia and other organic brain disorders. More and more, scientists are also coming to think of compulsive hoarding as a unique syndrome of its own.

Compulsive hoarders are defined by three characteristics:

They acquire, or fail to discard, numerous possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value. That includes stuff that most people would toss away, or even free stuff such as newspapers or advertisements...  More

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