...Definition: Hoarding is described the difficulty parting with possessions because of a need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences stress at the thought of getting rid of the items (Frost, 2017).This stress is prevented by keeping items of value in their home. Hoarding creates cramped homes that are filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter (Frost, 2017). They are sometimes stereotyped as “pack rats” or “chronic savers”. It is important to know that hoarding is different from collecting as hoarding directly impacts one’s quality of life. History Frost’s article “Insight” states: “There is no attributed founder of hoarding disorder (2017). However, throughout history, characteristics...
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...much stuff in their house, they cannot do anything because of the clutter, even prepare food, or eat at the table. Hoarding is defined as the acquirement of, and inability to discard worthless items even though they appear to have no value (Hall, 68). Hoarding behaviors can occur in a variety of psychiatric disorders and in the normal population, but are most commonly found in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hoarding creates a lot of problems; both for the hoarder and those around them. One is just navigating through a congested obstacle course of stuff in a house becomes difficult. To get something requires searching through stacks of stuff. To put something away requires a nuisance of movement of all the stuff in the cramped area, as well as thinking and decisions on how to do it. Another problem is that there are no areas to do any real work such as counters, tables or workbenches. All this consumes a huge amount of time and energy of the people who live in such conditions. According to demographics, psychiatrists estimate between 2% and 5% of the adult population in the United States and Canada are compulsive hoarders. In North America alone, there are about 4000 cases of animal hoarding involving up to 250,000 reported animals. (Frey, 760) Researchers only began to study hoarding in the 1980s so it is possible that the actual rate of hoarding is higher than reported. This disorder is more common among older adults though it can typically begin in late childhood...
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...Hoarding is an endless fight with discarding or departing with their possessions, regardless of the value of the items. People with this disorder get severe anxiety when attempting to throw out any item but tend to get overwhelmed about their possessions. For those who hoard, the quantity of their collected items sets them apart from other people. Hoarding ranges from moderate to extreme and in some cases, it can severely impair the functioning of your daily life. There is not much difference between anyone else as to why they keep the items. Most items have a sentimental value, it could be useful in the future, or the item is easy or attractive to look at. The causes of hoarding are still unknown but it is usually associated with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and...
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...Literature Review There is a great deal of evidence based literature on many of the symptoms associated with the term hoarding and its relation to trauma. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM IV, listed hoarding as a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), known as “compulsive hoarding” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). However, throughout the years research has shown “compulsive hoarding” did not respond to OCD treatments, thus redefining hoarding in the [DSM-V-TR] as a psychiatric disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Until more recently hoarding was a very secretive and shameful disorder. Research suggest that 3-5% of the U.S. population suffers from a hoarding disorder. To put this into perspective, the state of Delaware has 900, 000 residences, 3-5% have hoarding disorder, which amounts to 18, 000- 45, 000 individuals. There are 300 million people in the United States, of that population 6-15 million people are affected by a hoarding disorder. (Cohn, 2012). To address and conceptualize Susan’s co-morbidities of her psychopathological mental distress and manifestations of behaviors I will use three evidence-based theoretical frameworks as...
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...Obsessive Compulsive Disorder What is OCD? OCD is an anxiety disorder where sufferers experience persistent and intrusive thoughts occurring as obsessions, compulsions or a combination of the two. Obsessions are things that people think about and can comprise of inappropriate ideas and visual images that aren’t based on reality, such as being convinced that there are germs everywhere. Compulsions are what people do as a result of those obsessions; they are an attempt to reduce distress or prevent feared events, though there is little chance of them doing so. Symptoms of OCD. Obsessive symptoms. Common obsessions include: * Contamination, eg by germs. * Fear of losing control, eg through impulses to hurt someone. * Perfectionism, eg fear of not being the best. * Religion, eg fear of being immoral. Common obsessions include: * Contamination, eg by germs. * Fear of losing control, eg through impulses to hurt someone. * Perfectionism, eg fear of not being the best. * Religion, eg fear of being immoral. Behavioural. * Hinders everyday functioning – having obsessive ideas of an inappropriate type creates such anxiety that the ability to perform everyday tasks is severely hindered, for example, being able to work effectively. * Social impairment – anxiety levels generated are so high as to limit the ability to conduct meaningful interpersonal relationships. Emotional. * Extreme anxiety – persistent inappropriate or forbidden ideas...
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...like to put on the Agenda the issue of ‘Hoarding and Squalor’ so as to bring awareness on the impact of this condition on the individual, families and the wider community. I analyse the issue of ‘Hoarding and Squalor’ by using existing evidence anecdotal evidence through studies on the impact and consequences this issue at micro and macro level. Further I will demonstrate the associated current social policies around this problem by incorporating a combination of techniques with the aim of advocating for better supports and systems. My overall aim is to bring about a change, in particular around three goals. These goals are inclusive of Social Policy review, multi-agency approach and trans-disciplinary delivery, funding request from the State Government in particular Families and Communities Services (FACs) and Mental Health in order to work with families in a person [spelling error] cent[e]red, strength based manner to ensure sustainable results. I incorporate Jansson’s steps of, diagnosing the context to identify contextual constraints and opportunities, softening the context to make it more amenable to a specific policy initiative and lastly activating change to get a decision maker or legislator to put an issue on the agenda of the other decision makers in the agency, community or legislative setting. (Jansson, 2003, pp. 148-165). Diagnosing Context What is Hoarding and Squalor In May 2013, for the first time ‘Hoarding Disorder’ was defined, and included in a...
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...culture, biology, and upbringing. I also believe that the relationship you have with animals may be a factor in how emotional, or non-emotional you may feel towards towards animal related topics such as animal abuse. Many different reachers and psychologists have conducted numerous theories to seek out the answer to the infamous question are “human sex differences a result of nature or nurture?” We still have yet to find a definitive answer. “Some psychologists have found that some sex differences show up so early that they are unlikely to be the result of socialization.” This is also true of our closest animal relative the monkeys that exhibit similarities in toy preferences with human children. The female and male monkeys likes, dislikes, and fears mirrored that of human infantas and children. Oxytocin also plays a role in the human-animal bond, although studies are not definitive, levels of oxytocin are shown to increase after people interacted with animals. In a similar study, males and females had their hormone levels assessed after interacting with animals and it was discovered that hormone levels fluxuated after the interaction. Males in particular were more likely to be aggressive and less empathetic when testosterone levels were high, and the opposite effect when low. Hunting is often associated with men, but as the chapter title suggest “prom queen kills first deer on sixteenth birthday,” hunting is not exclusively for men although they are more likely to kill animals...
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...There are two forms of animal cruelty, animal abuse and then animal neglect. Under animal abuse there is physical abuse which includes: inbreeding, assault, restriction of movement, trapping, burning, drowning, incorrect methods of training, poisoning, suffocation, crowded transportation, shooting, animal fighting, fireworking [trying to kill animals with fireworks (Maher & Pierpoint,2012)], mulitation [to deprive a limb], and bestialy [having sex with animals] (Patronek, 1997). Animal neglect is when animals are left without food, or water for a duration of time, lack of vet care when the animal is obviously hurt or sick, poor body condition, poor sanitation, lack of grooming, and animal hoarding is another form of animal neglect. “Animal...
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...Healthy Home: Healthy Me Review of the Northside Community Service 2011 Severe Domestic Squalor & Hoarding Pilot Project Institute of Child Protection Studies Australian Catholic University October 2011 October 1, 2011 [HEALTHY HOME: HEALTHY ME] Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge and thank the clients of Healthy Home Healthy Me who made themselves available to talk about their experiences of the program. Thanks also to the range of stakeholders who participated in the review. Report by: Megan Layton Morag McArthur This project was commissioned by Northside Community Service. Thanks to Justin Barker and Tim Moore for their comments on the draft. Institute of Child Protection Studies Canberra Campus Australian Catholic University PO Box 256 DICKSON ACT 2602 icps@signadou.acu.edu.au Phone: 02 6209 1225 Fax: 02 6209 1216 http://www.acu.edu.au/icps/ Institute of Child Protection Studies, p2 October 1, 2011 [HEALTHY HOME: HEALTHY ME] Foreword by Northside Community Service ‘Healthy Home Healthy Me’ was an 18 week pilot program that supported nine clients to reduce severe domestic squalor and chronic hoarding within Canberra’s Inner North. During 2009/10, the Aged and Disability Home and Community Care (HACC) program at Northside Community Service (NCS) had received a high number of referrals for people presenting with issues related to hoarding and/or squalor. Prior to the pilot program, all nine of the program participants initially received...
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...one of the disorders which you read about this past week. (Be sure to use a different fictitious client than the one you discussed in the Unit 9 Discussion.) 1. Describe how you will identify the specific disorder through actual symptoms which the clients present, using the DSM-IV TR. 2. Recommend two different types of treatment options for each client based on the main four approaches we discussed this term (Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Cognitive, and Behavioral). 3. What specific techniques might you try using to help this client based on these schools of thought? 4. What are the ethical obligations of psychology professionals when it comes to selecting the best treatment? Jon is a 66 year old father of three grown children and is recently separated from his wife of 40 years, Myrna. Jon states that he is a Vietnam vet with service dates from 1963-1969 and a tour and a half of duty in Vietnam. He suffers from nightmares, often waking in the middle of the night sweating and screaming. He describes himself as being a quiet, happy go lucky guy until something happens that causes him to flip out. He states that he becomes hostile and angry usually yelling at the person he is with at the time including his fellow workers and has been known to throw things. He has bouts of heavy drinking and has a history of doing...
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...troubling repetitive rituals. There are more than 200,000 cases in America per year. There is no cure for OCD; however, there are different types of treatments that may help the chronic behaviors associated with this disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can last for many years and even an entire life span with some people. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogeneous condition characterized by a wide range of symptoms that can be distilled down to a smaller number of unique symptom dimensions (Cordeiro, Sharma, Thennarasu, & Reddy 2015). People with obsessive-compulsive disorder ten to be classified into one of the four major symptom dimensions: symmetry, forbidden thoughts, cleaning, and hoarding. A person’s personality trait significantly contributes to how severe someone’s obsessive compulsive disorder will become (Alonso, 2008). Symmetry – related to obsessive compulsive disorder – is just another way to classify someone as a perfectionist. Most people who fall in this symptom dimension tend to have anxiety when objects aren’t placed where they believe it should be placed. Also, these individuals may have a habitual habit of counting before they do something. An example of this would be a man who cannot brush his teeth in the morning before he counts from one to ten and then from ten back to one. This may cause...
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...I believe the values gained from literature in childhood have profound influences on adults and is an important aspect of childhood. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a book that I felt had a strong impact on shaping my attitude towards others as adult. The book is about an apple tree that gave everything it had to make his lifelong friend happy. The book does an excellent job demonstrating how people should treat other people with kindness and everyone would be a lot happier. The Oak Inside the Acorn by Max Lucado is another book that I believe influenced my adulthood, the book shows children that everyone is different and has a unique purpose on this earth. The book stresses uniqueness which I believe is important for children to understand...
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...Keera Owens 22 August 2012 Stop the Cruelty "Did you know that most American households have one or more pets than they have children?” stated by the American Humane Association. We all know that once you decide to get a pet that you now have responsibilities you must fulfill. For instance if you have a dog you know that a dog needs exercise, food and water, toys, baths, medical assistance and even a nice cozy bed. Something that's also important that a dog must receive is a sense of love and safety. “In the United States alone, five to seven million pets are turned into shelters each year,” (ASPCA). All of these millions of animals sitting in shelters are lacking the same one thing and that is a loving home. Due to animal cruelty a lot of these animals are being put in shelters and this is a very serious mater taking place all over the world. The term animal cruelty is pretty self-explanatory and almost speaks for itself. The first thing you think about is an animal living under cruel conditions. That almost pins the definition on the dot. According to the definition, “animal cruelty is the infliction of physical pain, suffering or death upon an animal when not necessary”, (Black Laws Dictionary). Animal cruelty occurs in various forms. Whether it's neglecting, starvation, dehydration, or simply not getting the proper medical attention, it is all forms of animal cruelty. People like to think that animals don't have any feelings and their incapable of feeling pain...
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...Los Angeles Times. On the day he was due to appear in court, however, Genie’s father shot himself to death. He left a note in which he wrote. “The world will never understand.” As a social worker the developmental concerns that would be identified one year after Genie was found are: Unable to form relationships with peers. Extreme infantile noises and behaviours. An example of this was her whimpering and how she touched and felt objects for the first time, moving them closer to her face and lips. No emotions displayed, unable to express emotions. Hoarding liquids. Water temperature disparity. An example of this is the disconnection she has with the hot and cold water to her skin. No reaction at all to either temperature. Animal like behaviours. An example of this is her constant spitting and sniffing. Delayed speech development. Dull eyed and her sad appearance. Withdrawn. Nutritional dificiences. Hoarding liquids is on the list of concerns as it was stated in the documentary ‘Secret of the Wild Child’ as being an indicator for those who have...
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...Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects children and adults by interfering with a person’s routine, schoolwork, job, family and social life. This disorder can be very detrimental to an individual and even their family members. People with this disorder are sometimes stuck in infinite cycles of repetitive behavior. They may have reoccurring thoughts of fear and obsessions that they are unable to control. Most of the time these behaviors and obsessions end up controlling the individual. This may cause them to feel helpless and even anxious. It gets in the way of their normal, everyday life. There are several categories of OCD. Some of these include washers and cleaners, checkers, doubters and sinners, counters and arrangers, and hoarders....
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