Hoarding intervention best started at first signs

Hoarding gets worse with age, which is why it’s often associated with older adults, but it usually starts in childhood. That’s what Patrick Arbore, founder and director of the Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services in San Francisco, told a group of professionals who work with seniors recently.

He said people whose homes become overwhelmed with stuff often begin having dysfunctional relationships with things between ages 11 to 15. They may cling passionately to clothes that no longer fit. This is an opportunity for parents to teach them how to organize their possessions and discard items they no longer need, skills that are often deficient in adult hoarders.

Arbore thinks much hoarding also stems from trauma or emotional pain. Hoarders fill the emotional holes in their lives with things that seem more trustworthy than their fellow human beings. He said he has had success at reducing hoarding by helping people address their underlying pain and learn better ways to cope.

Overall, though, he presented a depressing picture of a condition that directly affects 6 percent of the pop- ulation and causes much distress among families and friends. For the elderly, who are more likely to have dementia and physical problems, hoarding can also increase the risk of debilitating falls and isolation.

Professionals, he said, should think of hoarding as a chronic, relapsing disease. “Just like when we work with alcoholics, it can be exceedingly painful, and we can’t save everybody.”