Definition of Hoarding
Hoarding is more than messy. It’s a disorder, recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. Hoarding is an inability to get rid of items to the point that accumulation becomes unhealthy. First signs of hoarding include when areas in your house cannot be used for their intended purpose, because there are piles of stuff instead.
Read more from the Mayo Clinic’s Hoarding page, including signs and symptoms.
Hoarding Levels
The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD) has developed guides that can help determine what level hoard someone is dealing with.
The International OCD Foundation created a guide with images to compare to.
Hoarding Facts & Statistics
- Approximately 2-6% of the global population, or about 1 in 20-50 people, are hoarders. (Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies) (That comes out to 5-14 million people in the United States alone.)
- Hoarding is more prevalent in older adults, often increasing with age, and there is no significant difference in hoarding among genders. (American Psychiatric Association)
- Onset can occur as early as 15-19 years of age. Early diagnosis and treatment are critical to improving outcomes. (American Psychiatric Association)
- Hoarding disorder often coexists with other mental health conditions. 75% of people with hoarding disorder also suffer from depression. And 50% of hoarders also have anxiety. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are also often present in hoarders. (Our Mental Health)
- Cultural factors, family dynamics, and stressful life events or transitions can trigger hoarding disorder. (Our Mental Health)
- Results are poor on successfully treating hoarding disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help; a study published in the October 2024 Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment showed “clinically significant change” in 24-43% of cases, but 50% of people dropped out of the study due to its emphasis on decluttering.
It’s important to understand that forcing someone to clean up may make the situation worse. In hoarding disorder, motivation and commitment must come from the hoarder. Forced clean-ups often result in an even bigger mess in just a few months, and they may then refuse future help.
More Than Messy
General Messiness: Hoarding is more than messiness. The mess becomes hoarding when there is emotional distress in discarding items, even trash. When parts of your home cannot be used for their intended purpose, the mess has crossed over into hoarding. Messiness is a habit, and cleaning up is not stressful emotionally. Hoarding is more than messy.
Collecting: Collectors sometimes collect a lot of things. The difference here is that collectors typically organize and display their collectibles and keep them orderly. Hoarders may call themselves collectors, but there is generally no rhyme or reason to their messes. Hoarding is more than collecting.
Additional Resources
If you need additional resources, please visit the International Hoarding Alliance or the International OCD Foundation’s Hoarding page.
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More Than Messy 