Reflecting on... Hoarding

Compared to my usual case load of complex presentations, hoarding seems to be an uncomplicated condition, usually originating from loss and often characterised by disordered attachments. I am yet to receive an explicit referral of a child hoarder but signs of hoarding are implicit in my current case load, both physically and symbolically.

Hoarding is described as ‘a pattern of behaviour characterized by the excessive acquisition of, and inability or unwillingness to, discard large quantities of objects that are seemingly useless or without value’¹. This definition (and others) pathologises hoarding as a disorder which, by implication, demands treatment.  Assessment should be relatively straightforward: with little encouragement, hoarders can usually identify a trigger for their hoarding, which is inevitably the loss of a loved ‘object’ (in the Kleinian sense) or of something representative of ego; for example job, status or youth. Hoarders replace their losses with physical objects and form strong attachments to them to defend against their grief. Relationships with things then replace relationships with people.

We are breeding a generation who want ‘stuff’ – lots of it – and who are becoming socially isolated, for (adult) fear of exploring the big bad world. Possessions pile up and relationships happen online. A young patient told me how she loves her messy bedroom, strewn with personal belongings. It makes her feel cosy and safe. In contrast, a room where everything is tidied away makes her feel lonely. She has no friends. She is in her ninth foster placement and is 10 years old. Perhaps she is demonstrating early signs of hoarding.

From a psychodynamic perspective, hoarding is a fitting metaphor for the internal worlds of my clients. Many could be classified as ‘mental hoarders’, their minds littered with ‘large quantities of objects that are seemingly useless or without value’ but to which they remain firmly attached.  A deeply traumatised 15 year old client told me her mind feels like a ‘really messy room’. She isn’t ready to throw anything away yet, but she likes having my help to ‘tidy things up’. I feel privileged to be invited in and am treating her ‘hoard’ with care.

1. Frost, R. and Gross, R. (1993) ‘The hoarding of possessions’ in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 367–382, Northampton, USA

 First published in BACP Children & Young People, 2012