Disposophobia - Case Studies

Case Studies

The following (edited) case study is taken from a published account of compulsive hoarding:

The client, D, lived with her two children, ages 11 and 14, and described her current hoarding behavior as a 'small problem that mushroomed' many years ago, along with corresponding marital difficulties. D reported that her father was a hoarder, and that she started saving when she was a child ... The volume of cluttered possessions took up approximately 70 percent of the living space in her house. With the exception of the bathroom, none of the rooms in the house could easily be used for their intended purpose. Both of the doors to the outside were blocked, so entry to the house was through the garage and the kitchen, where the table and chairs were covered with papers, newspapers, bills, books, half-consumed bags of chips, and her children's school papers dating back ten years.

The following case study is taken from a published account of compulsive hoarding:

A 79-year-old woman recently died in a fire at her Washington, D.C., row house when 'pack rat conditions' held back firefighters from reaching her in time. A couple of days later, 47 firefighters from four cities spent two hours fighting a fire in a Southern California home before they were able to bring it under control. There was floor-to-ceiling clutter that had made it almost impossible for them to come in the house.