[sugarwood]

I know a guy like this:

Upon approaching the house for the first time visible signs of neglect were evident. Paint was peeling off the woodwork, gutters were broken, shutters were missing on some windows, bushes were overgrown and beginning to creep through gaps in the structure, and cats of various sizes, colors and ages were scurrying about.

Superstitious thoughts about discarding items, feelings of incompleteness, and persistent avoidance can also prevail (International OCD Foundation, undated). An example of these three elements is a hoarder who was persuaded to give up a toy yellow swan. But not before she took numerous photographs of the swan, and videotaped and narrated its departure (Frost & Steketee, 2010). In this case the hoarder was trying to preserve ownership through photographs, and utilizing a lengthy avoidance procedure to compensate for the loss she was experiencing.

Another aspect related to the desire to retain objects is the notion that they might still be usable, or that someone else might want them. For example, a rusty watering can with a hole in the bottom. It can no longer be used for its original purpose, but a hoarder could come up with a list of reasons for keeping it (e.g., sentimental value, plans to repair the hole and re-use it, painting it and using it as flower pot). In reality it is unlikely that any of the reasons for keeping it will occur, and it will remain as it is.

Hoarders who actively acquire possessions are likely to be more difficult to work with because of underlying obsessive compulsive behavior. Personal experience of hoarders who acquire actively has found them to express intense connectivity with their possessions. Some have described a sense of security from being surrounded by their possessions, and one elderly hoarder used the analogy of them being like the walls of a castle.

The absence of embarrassment could be attributable to the lack of insight that manifests itself with hoarding behavior. Hoarders are known to derive pleasure and feelings of safety from their possessions, and form strong attachments to objects. Consequently, this is ‘normal’ and is not something to be embarrassed about.

It is theorized that in many instances elderly hoarders prefer social isolation because it provides them with privacy and enables them to acquire, actively and/or passively, without necessarily drawing attention to their behavior. The term social isolation is used in two overlapping contexts. One is the deliberate withdrawal into the sanctity of the home; the other is a geographical context in which hoarders live in remote areas, often some distance from their nearest neighbor, or shielded from view. Hoarders who live in remote areas are generally harder to detect, and the collection of objects frequently extends beyond the confines of the home and can include larger and more assorted objects (e.g., fridges, stoves, tools, cars). Anecdotal knowledge of a geographically isolated hoarder found over 20 cars, many of them vintage, scattered about the property.