How to Avoid Being a Compulsive Hoarder

Whether we're talking about animals or objects, hoarding is not something that can be resolved with an advice column. But that didn't stop the San Francisco Examiner from publishing an article titled How to Avoid Being a Compulsive Hoarder.

Every day, there are stories of local humane societies rescuing dozens, sometimes hundreds, of animals from hoarders' homes. The animals are typically malnourished and sick, and it's not unusual to find animal corpses on the property. The place is in such a state of squalor that it's not suitable for any living thing, including the human residents.

This is not a lifestyle choice made because someone didn't have the right steps on how to avoid it.

Although the SF Examiner article focused on providing a very basic definition of hoarding instead of doling out tips, the headline is misleading about the nature of the disorder.

Hoarding is a complex psychological issue that can appear in any demographic, not just the stereotypical elderly woman with too many cats. Although it's often classified as form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, the psychology behind hoarding is poorly understood. In many cases, there are a number of disorders present, ranging from attention deficit disorder to depression to schizophrenia.

The Tufts University Hoarding Animals Research Consortium estimates that as many as a quarter million animals are victims of hoarding each year, and the majority of cases remain unreported.

While the number of animals plays a role, hoarding is defined by the neglect of basic care and sanitation, and the inability to acknowledge that neglect. Someone can have several dozen pets that are well-cared for, or can be a hoarder with only half a dozen animals. It's a quality, not a quantity, issue.

Dealing with hoarders, particularly when there are animals involved, is also complicated. Illness and lack of socialization often make the rescued animals poor candidates for adoption. Taking away the animals doesn't solve the problem; hoarders have close to a 100 percent rate of recidivism. Experts continue to debate on whether the animals should be seized versus monitored in the home. Once an animal hoarder has been identified, it takes a village of humane organizations, social services, public health officials, and others to try to break the cycle.

So, to avoid being a compulsive hoarder, you need to recognize and address any and all underlying psychological disorders. Then you need to arrange an intervention with qualified counselors and a sympathetic animal control agency, which may or may not exist in your community. After that, you would need to remain open indefinitely to their scrutiny and resist the urge to lie (a habit which is common among hoarders) about the condition of your home and animals to the people who are trying to help you .

You would have to spend the rest of your life fighting your compulsion to acquire more animals, making sure any animals you have are receiving proper care, and seeking help whenever you're headed for trouble again ... but part of your condition is that you can't actually see the reality of your situation.

In other words, How to Avoid Being a Compulsive Hoarder is impossible. How to Recognize a Compulsive Hoarder or How to Address Compulsive Hoarding in Your Neighborhood would have been challenging, but more realistic, how-to topics.

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