Hoarding

This book offers a clear, comprehensive, and balanced discussion of the issue of hoarding. Compulsive hoarding afflicts a surprising number of people in America -- perhaps 3 to 5 percent or more of the population. In recent decades, the scientific community has taken an interest in what drives people to hoard. Hoarding has been called a mental illness with similarities to obsessive compulsive disorder, but hoarding behavior is notoriously difficult to understand, even by mental health professionals who specialize in studying it. This title covers the psychological elements of compulsive hoarding, but also addresses the legal implications of hoarding and examines how a hoarding lifestyle affects those afflicted with this behavioral pattern. Media coverage of hoarding and the development of reality television shows devoted to the controversial subject are also explored.