Differential diagnosis of hoarding behaviors

Abstract

Hoarding of objects comprises a continuum from normality to extreme disease. It is important to distinguish between the different disorders that include hoarding behaviors.

Compulsive hoarding is a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that is characterized by excessive acquisition of possessions, inability to discard possessions, and excessive clutter. Patients usually display other obsessive features, feel distress if they cannot hoard objects, show a typical cognitive pattern with obsessive features, and their interpersonal relations are mediated by objects.

Diogenes syndrome is the combination of severe selfneglect, domestic squalor, social withdrawal, hoarding, and refusal of help, in elderly patients. There is high comorbidity with psychiatric/somatic disorders. Depression and dementia are risk factors for self-neglect.

Collectionism is a normal phenomenon that is common in children but also found in adults. It is usually an organized activity, and the objects are kept in specific and structured places. The aim of collecting is to organize and hierarchize a series of objects, not just to hoard them. Collected objects are frequently appreciated by other collectors, and become exchanged to enlarge the collection.