5 Classic Compulsive Hoarding Symptoms

Compulsive hoarding is often connected to emotional trauma and distress. That’s why it’s important to never shame someone suffering from this condition and instead to try to understand how they’re feeling. While any size of hoard can impact quality of life, let’s take a look a 5 classic compulsive hoarding symptoms and when you should hire the professional and non-judgemental hoarding clean-up services of Bio-One of Chattanooga.

5 classic complusive hoarding symptoms include:

• Consistently buying items without making space for them
• Holding onto invaluable items which are broken or damaged
• Disorganized stacks or piles of papers, books, or sentimental objects
• Neglecting personal hygiene and animal care
• Severe emotional reaction to letting go of items

1: Consistently Buying Items Without Making Space For Them

One of the classic compulsive hoarding symptoms to look out for is when a loved one continues to buy more items, despite having no more space to store them at home. Excessively shopping with no specific reason and filling up every draw, closet, and wardrobe is a tell-tale sign that someone is struggling mentally. Perhaps they are trying to overcompensate for a loss or feel the need to protect themselves by stockpiling items. Try to ask your family member or friend the next time they are shopping the reason why they are buying the items and see if they provide a rational explanation or disregard your interest. Hoarding can be a complex behavior to deal with, and often, hoarders will try to deny that they are exhibiting this behavior in the first place.

2: Holding Onto Invaluable Items Which Are Broken Or Damaged

Not to be confused with collecting certain items, compulsive hoarding can often involve keeping a collection of invaluable items that might be broken or badly damaged. With no value and no practical use, people struggling with this condition may feel some level of emotional significance to each object or believe that they will need it at some point in the future. This is also linked to the fear of wasting money and so they’re trying to hold onto everything so that they don’t waste money in the future.

3: Disorganized Stacks and Piles Of Papers, Books, or Sentimental Objects

If you believe someone has compulsive hoarding behavior, you might notice stacks of disorganized items such as books, newspapers, paperwork, and sentimental objects throughout their home. This clutter and mess is a direct result of their difficulty throwing out and parting with objects, regardless of their value or purpose. If, however, the items are carefully stored and categorized, this is more likely a collection over a hoard.

4: Neglecting Personal Hygiene and Animal Care

When compulsive hoarding behavior gets worse, a person may begin to neglect themselves in terms of their personal hygiene as well as ignoring responsibilities to their pets. You may notice animal feces in the home, strong odors, and no clear bathroom facilities for them to shower and wash. This extreme lack of self-care is a massive red flag, and if you notice this, it’s really time to address the issue for the health and safety of anyone and any animals living in the property.

Severe Emotional Reaction To Letting Go Of Items

A trauma or stressful life event often triggers compulsive hoarding behavior. This could be the death of a loved one, a divorce or losing items through no fault of their own, such as a fire or flood. Through hoarding, a person may feel protected as they are surrounded by the objects they have bought. That’s why a classic compulsive hoarding symptom is a severe emotional reaction to the process of letting go of any item. But, if your loved one is ready to take back control of their lives, feel free to reach out to our team and hire our professional hoarding clean-up services. professional hoarding clean-up services.