Compulsive Hoarding Treatment

Their living spaces are totally cluttered and most areas of their houses cannot be used for what they were originally designed (e.g. the furniture in the living room is buried under clutter). They are usually embarrassed about the way their homes and/or work environment look so they often avoid social interaction.

Perfectionism is a frequent trait that often leads to indecisiveness and behavioral paralysis. Hoarding also creates significant problems in family and romantic relationships. Hoarders believe that their “collection” of papers, clothes, maps, newspapers, etc have an intrinsic value. However, others do not recognize this “alleged” value and often encourage (or even force) them to discard these items which in turn lead to frequent arguments.

The treatment of choice is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Compulsive Hoarding is more difficult to treat than non hoarding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. One of the reasons is that patients are often not very motivated to do the therapy compared to their non hoarders’ counterparts.

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Topic: Anxiety Disorders

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Penn Station Area
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New York, NY 10001

400 Central Park West S. 8Y
New York City, NY 10025