Best Compulsive Hoarding Treatments

Medically speaking, there isn't a "true cure" for this mental behavior, however, you can typically determine treatments for hoarding by doing a small amount of research of your own. The definition of "no real cure" simply means that this upsetting habit will always be exhibited in one form or another. If the compulsive hoarding behavior is allowed to fester, it will gradually grow into an uncontrollable nightmare. The longer it remains fixed in a person's every day lifestyle, the more difficult it will be to deal with. There are two common treatments, however, that are ordinarily applied in compulsive hoarding cases. These should allow the patient to effectively manage the symptoms.

The first treatment of hoarding is with medicine. Studies conducted by research laboratories have shown positive results with antidepressant medications in compulsive hoarders who have taken paroxetine (Paxil), fluoxetine (Prozac), citalopram (Celexa), sertraline (Zoloft) and fluvoxamine (Luvox). However, some case studies showed little or very mild improvement in behavior while under the influence of these prescriptions. Increasing the amount of serotonin activity in the brain is the purpose of these medications. Compulsive hoarders overall are less likely to benefit from drug therapy than individuals who are dealing with other kinds of OCDs (obsessive-compulsive illnesses.)

The second treatment of hoarding that is designed to help the person get it under control is known as cognitive-behavioral therapy. With this approach, simply counseling the person does not go far enough in bringing the real motive behind why they hoard to the surface. When this method is applied the mental health professional normally requests a face-to-face meeting at the person's home. Here, the mental health professional will attempt to convince the hoarder that it is in their best interest to clean up the house and organize their belongings. If the therapist is a successful, the hoarder will notice a dramatic improvement in their quality of life and see how much space they actually have to live their life in.

This psychological therapy used in the treatment of hoarding is designed to challenge the hoarder's value system and prepare them for the next phase: de-cluttering. Guided by the therapist, the hoarder will soon be able to sift through their belongings and clean up their house. The entire house is not tackled all at once but rather one room at a time. It is the job of therapist to help the hoarder make the right decisions about what they will donate to charity, throw in the garbage or keep. This involves a methodical approach going room-by-room, not looking at the entire house at one time. Once a person gets to this point, and rooms are starting to be cleared, the treatment will pay particular attention to maintenance and relapse prevention.

One of the most cutting edge strategies in the treatment of hoarding in patients with this syndrome involves the use of brain imaging to calculate the amount of cerebral activity. When the data of this brain imaging analyze was deciphered, the scientists found that hoarders had a unique pattern in the brain that was not found with non-hoarders. Compulsive hoarders had a much lower metabolism in the part of the brain used for visual processing. As more and more treatment of hoarding studies are done, data collectors will be able to design medications to explicitly target brain dysfunctions associated with hoarding. Treatments in the future will also be able to address the inability to process information correctly found in individuals with compulsive-hoarding syndrome, such as attention and memory deficiencies, organization skills, and the ability to make a decision.