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Hoarding

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Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health

Compulsive hoarding syndrome is one of the symptom dimensions of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Hoarding and saving behaviors can also occur in nonclinical populations and with other neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, dementia, eating disorders, mental retardation, and autism. The causes of compulsive hoarding are not known; however, symptoms show a recessive inheritance pattern. There appears to be biological abnormalities in the central nervous system (CNS) among individuals with hoarding. Using positron emission tomography (PET) brain imaging, compulsive hoarders have been found to have significantly lower glucose metabolism in specific parts of the brain (e.g., anterior and posterior cingulated gyrus, thalamus, and occipital cortex).

Individuals with compulsive hoarding may exhibit the following characteristics: The individual acquires and fails to discard a large number of possessions that appear useless or of limited value. Clutter prevents the individuals...

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Suggested Readings

  • Feusner J, Saxena S (2005) Unclutter lives and homes by breaking anxiety's grip. Curr Psychiatry 4(3):13–24

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  • Hwang JP, Tsai SJ, Yang CH, Liu KM, Lirng JF (1998) Hoarding behavior in dementia. A preliminary report. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 6:285–289

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  • Saxena S, Brody AL, Maidment KM, Smith EC, Zohrabi N, Katz E, Baker SK, Jr Baxter LR (2004) Cerebral glucose metabolism in obsessive–compulsive hoarding. Am J Psychiatry 161:1038–1048

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  • Saxena S, Maidment, K (2004) Treatment of compulsive hoarding. J Clin Psychology. 60(11):1143–1154

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Authors
  1. Maria Lourdes Gonzales
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  2. Teresa Piotrowicz
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

    Sana JD Loue PhD, MPH

  2. School of Medicine, University Hospitals Case Medical Center Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

    Martha Sajatovic MD

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© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Gonzales, M.L., Piotrowicz, T. (2008). Hoarding. In: Loue, S.J., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-33754-8_221

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-33754-8_221

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-33753-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-33754-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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