Hoarding Disorder: Too Much of a (Good) Thing?

"Imagine being told to part with a dear friend or part of your identity. Imagine being told to discard something that results in intense feelings of anxiety, sorrow, or guilt. That’s how it can feel to someone with hoarding issues. "

Dr. Annette Perot is a licensed psychologist and has been in private practice since 1994. Over the past 24 years she has developed a specialization in helping adults with a wide range of anxiety concerns. In 2009 she opened her own practice, Triangle Anxiety Center, where she helps people with a wide range of anxiety or related concerns including (but not limited t0) those struggling with; panic disorder, phobias (e.g., fear of flying, blood/injection or vomiting fears, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder or excessive worrying, health anxiety (hypochondriasis), trichotillomania (hair pulling), compulsive hoarding, and body dysmorphic disorder.

In today's podcast we are discussing the topic of hoarding. For those interested in this subject, Dr. Perot has provided a number of additional resources:

Books on Hoarding Disorder

Frost, R.O., & Steketee, G. (2010). Stuff: Compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Steketee, G., and Frost, R.O. (2014). Treatment for hoarding disorder: Workbook(2^nded.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Thompkins, M.A. and Hartl, T.L. (2009). Digging out: Helping your loved one manage clutter, hoarding, and compulsive acquiring. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

Tolin, D., Frost, R.O., & Steketee, G. (2014). Buried in treasures: Help for Compulsive acquiring, saving, and hoarding (2^nded.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Other Sources of Information

Institute for Challenging Disorganization (for info on professional organizers trained in hoarding disorder)

https://www.challengingdisorganization.org

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

https://iocdf.org

https://hoarding.iocdf.org (section of website specific to hoarding disorder)

OCD North Carolina (NC Affiliate of IOCDF)

http://ocdnc.org