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Myself I know someone that does this with food. Keeps it for years.
MONDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- People with "hoarding disorder" show abnormalities in brain scans that distinguish them from those who have other types of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), new research shows.
"We wanted to see whether the brain activity of people who hoard is different from that of people with OCD, and whether it is different from that of healthy people," explained study author David Tolin, director of the Anxiety Disorders Center and Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy within the Institute of Living in Hartford, Conn. "We also wanted to understand whether people who hoard show an abnormal brain response to decisions about whether to keep things or throw them away," he noted.
I'm wondering if a brain scan was even necessary to show what we all already know... that hoarders have a hard time throwing things away.....next thing you know they'll be scanning our brains to "understand" why some of us prefer ice-cream instead of slushies.....is that normal?
I've said for years that instead of the government (in all of it's different branches) spending millions of dollars studying why cats purr or frogs croak they should be studying the human brain to try to find out why people do what they do. Criminals brains, mentally ill peoples brains, normal brains, what is the common denominator in all these groups? Why are some people highly intelligent as oppossed to those who are TPT? Why are some people compassionate while others don't care about innocent animals or human beings? Nature or nurture, or both? I believe there are many convicted criminals who would gladly make amends for their crimes by allowing their brains to be studied/researched, both while alive and after death. But, the government (society?) has decided that is "cruel and inhumane" treatment. NOT if it is voluntarily given, IMO.
Part nature, mostly nurture Michigan Transplant, that's what it's all about....humans have been studying the human brain and behaviors for years and years, and years, and probably will for as many again.....I see no problem with someone voluntarily giving permission for their brains to be studied...I didn't know it wasn't allowed.
Interestering article about a veterinarian who's a hoarder and had difficulty with his relationships. Reading this made me realize how hard life can be for people with this problem. I never thought about there being a brain abnormality behind hoarding but it does make sense. The 'intruder' in his emotional fortress is really his best friend - latimes.com
I know someone who is an extreme hoarder, worse than anything I've seen to date on any episode of "Hoarders". His hoarding is so bad that he basically lives outside. He cooks, eats, bathes, washes dishes, brushes his teeth....the only thing he does indoors is use the toilet but it doesn't flush so he brings water in from "outside" to flush it. He does not have city or well water, he has rigged up a system of hoses and pipes and the water comes from the nearby spring. No running water inside the house, of course, so in the winter when he can't bathe outside he has some sort of camping shower thing that he uses inside, after he has removed everything from the bathtub. His microwave, refrigerator, freezer and all other appliances are all outside. He does sleep inside, but there is only a small single pathway inside the trailer where you have to step over stuff to get to the bed or the toilet. All of the rooms and hallway are covered from floor to ceiling with boxes and other stuff, and he prides himself on the fact that he has such wonderful stacking skills.
Outside is just as bad, he has no trash cans because he keeps everything. Even collections of the little tabs that come on canned drinks. Plastic containers, pots and pans, canned food, tools, equipment and anything else you can think of is outside. Paper or cardboard gets burned but that's it. There are around 15 vehicles strewn across the property, all slam full of more "stuff" and a couple of sheds piled up to the ceiling. Just like inside, there is only a small path winding through the property, just enough room for one person to walk through. Oh, and he has a tractor trailer full of more junk at his parent's house.
I have never seen anything like it in my life. It's indescribable, one has to see it for themselves to believe it. The funny thing is that he's very intelligent, has a very high IQ but you cannot convince him that he has a problem. He calls himself "pathologically frugal" but denies being a hoarder. In fact, his favorite thing to do is to frequent all of the thrift stores and buy even more junk! This really is a bizarre and puzzling disorder, and it doesn't surprise me that hoarders brain scans show something abnormal going on because this is far from normal!
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