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   From: olivercranglejr@gmail.com   
      
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   On Friday, September 5, 2008 6:16:48 PM UTC-5, rpautrey2 wrote:   
   > The danger of hoarding   
   > By Joyce Cohen   
   > Special for USA TODAY   
   >    
   >    
   > For 25 years, a difficult-neighbor problem plagued Curtis and Elaine   
   > Colvin of Seattle. The neighbor's home and lawn resembled a junkyard.   
   > Finally, last spring, the elderly man was taken out of state by   
   > relatives. Konstantinos Apostolou bought the house — and sent in five   
   > men to clear the floor-to-ceiling junk.   
   >    
   > "It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life," says his   
   > son, George Apostolou.   
   >    
   > There was nowhere to walk, except for a narrow "goat path" connecting   
   > the rooms. The men hauled out seven Dumpsters' worth of clothes,   
   > books, magazines, spoiled food, firewood, car parts, tires, bank   
   > statements and 50-year-old tax records.   
   >    
   > Animal hoarding   
   > Could you be a border hoarder?   
   >    
   > Many people see traces of hoarding behavior in themselves. Though   
   > having a big mess is a far cry from pathological hoarding, such   
   > behavior appears to be on a continuum.   
   >    
   > Professionals who run self-help groups for mild or borderline hoarders   
   > — those chronic clutterers who acknowledge their problem and are truly   
   > motivated to change — offer this advice:   
   >    
   > Excavate one tiny area at a time — one tabletop, one corner, one   
   > drawer, one shelf in the medicine cabinet.   
   > Sort before discarding anything. It's hard to relinquish one scarf,   
   > but less hard to get rid of 20 out of 40.   
   > Wear those unworn clothes. If something feels wrong or you dislike   
   > wearing it, consider whether it's worth keeping. Even a reluctance to   
   > wear something is telling.   
   > Donate items instead of throwing them away, since it's a comfort to   
   > know they can find a good home with someone else.   
   > Don't buy a book unless you spend half an hour with it in the   
   > bookstore. For every book acquired, relinquish two books that you've   
   > already identified as dispensable.   
   > Control acquisition by imagining you must pay a dollar for every   
   > "free" thing.   
   > Take before and after photos, so you can see the difference and chart   
   > your progress.   
   >    
   > Sources: Beth Johnson, Clutter Workshop (clutterworkshop.com), West   
   > Hartford, Conn.; Sondra Schiff, A to Zen Organizing   
   > (atozenorganizing .com), New York, N.Y.   
   >    
   >    
   > "I feel bad for the guy," says Apostolou. "I'm sure he was ill."   
   >    
   > Just how ill is still little understood. The man was a classic hoarder   
   > — a condition usually considered freakish and laughable, or dismissed   
   > with cutesy terms like "pack rat" and "junkaholic." Only now is   
   > hoarding garnering serious attention.   
   >    
   > Within the past six years, about 10 municipalities have formed task   
   > forces so that public services can collaborate in cleaning up the   
   > property and helping the hoarder. And researchers are studying how   
   > hoarding differs from seemingly related conditions. Hoarding is   
   > currently considered one of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive   
   > disorder (OCD).   
   >    
   > Hoarders don't just save stuff, but constantly acquire new stuff — to   
   > such a remarkable degree that it interferes with functioning and   
   > safety.   
   >    
   > It's unclear how widespread hoarding is, since the problem often   
   > surfaces only after a neighbor's complaint or a medical emergency.   
   > Randy Frost, a psychology professor at Smith College in Northampton,   
   > Mass., estimates that 2% to 3% of the population has OCD, and up to a   
   > third of those exhibit hoarding behavior.   
   >    
   > Real danger can lurk in homes overflowing with stuff. Floors buckle   
   > from the weight. People get buried under piles. Insects and rodents   
   > feast on rotting food. Combustibles ignite, endangering both occupants   
   > and firefighters.   
   >    
   > Fairfax County, Va., formed one of the first task forces in 1998 after   
   > squatters settled in a house vacated by a hoarder, lit a fire in the   
   > fireplace and died in the ensuing blaze.   
   >    
   > Behavioral peculiarities among hoarders come as no surprise to   
   > researchers.   
   >    
   > For example, "They have rambling or overinclusive speech, where you   
   > ask them a question and they tell you a whole story with every   
   > possible detail before they get to the answer," says Sanjaya Saxena, a   
   > professor at UCLA's School of Medicine.   
   >    
   > They have high levels of anxiety, depression and perfectionism. They   
   > are greatly indecisive — over what to eat, what to wear. They prepare   
   > for all contingencies, keeping items "just in case."   
   >    
   > But the true hallmark: "They apply emotions to a range of things that   
   > others would consider worthless," says Frost. Where most people see an   
   > empty roll of toilet paper, they see art supplies.   
   >    
   > At the same time, they tend to be articulate and well-educated, with   
   > sophisticated reasons for their saving and acquiring. What if they   
   > forgo a newspaper and with it the bit of knowledge that will change   
   > their life for the better?   
   >    
   > Though people with OCD — those who endlessly wash their hands or check   
   > the stove — acknowledge their behavior and are distressed by it,   
   > hoarders deny they have a problem.   
   >    
   > Brain scans show a difference in brain abnormalities between people   
   > with non-hoarding OCD and hoarding OCD, says Saxena of UCLA, who is   
   > studying the neurobiology of hoarding.   
   >    
   > Whereas non-hoarders show elevated brain activity in certain areas,   
   > hoarders show decreased activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus,which   
   > deals with focus, attention and decision-making.   
   >    
   > Frost is developing cognitive behavioral treatments, but progress is   
   > slow. Almost always, if a place is cleaned out, the hoarding behavior   
   > returns immediately.   
   >    
   > In Pittsfield, Mass., fire chief Stephen Duffy tells of one elderly   
   > widow whose house had "debris piled higher than the bed, with one spot   
   > where she curled up on the mattress to sleep."   
   >    
   >    
   > Find this article at:   
   > http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-02-18-hoarding-usat_x.htm   
   >    
   > Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.   
      
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