Brain Scans of 'Hoarders' Show Unique Abnormalities

[tiredmommy]

From MSN Healthy Living:

Brain Scans of 'Hoarders' Show Unique Abnormalities

MONDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- People with "hoarding disorder" show abnormalities in brain scans that distinguish them from those who have other types of obsessive-compulsive disorders (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)), new research shows.
"We wanted to see whether the brain activity of people who hoard is different from that of people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and whether it is different from that of healthy people," explained study author David Tolin, director of the Anxiety Disorders Center and Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy within the Institute of Living in Hartford, Conn. "We also wanted to understand whether people who hoard show an abnormal brain response to decisions about whether to keep things or throw them away," he noted.
"These findings further suggest that hoarding should be considered separate from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and that it deserves recognition as a unique psychiatric disorder," Tolin said. "It also shows us that people who hoard have a hard time processing information normally, and that when they have to make a decision their brain goes into overdrive -- specifically, those parts that are involved with identifying the relative importance or significance of things."
Tolin and his colleagues report their findings in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

For more on hoarding, visit the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Foundation.
SOURCES: David F. Tolin, Ph.D., director, Anxiety Disorders Center and Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Institute of Living, Hartford, Conn., and adjunct associate professor, psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; Joseph T. Coyle, M.D., professor, psychiatry and neuroscience, Harvard Medical School, Boston; August 2012, Archives of General Psychiatry

 

[Marcie Mac]

They should do a scan on my brain cause every time I watch those Hoarder shows, first commercial I get up and find myself tidying up - they have such an "ewww" factor to them. I can wrap my brain round collecting "stuff" but wonder where the line gets crossed to just throwing trash on the floor, along with rancid food, bathroom habits reverting to something you would expect from cavemen, living with rats, roaches, animal waste and gawd knows what else. I know its a mental illness but can't help but think some plain laziness is thrown in the mix.

Marcie

 

[EStephens]

My difficult child flirts with hoarding tendencies. If he finds it, it's a treasure. husband and I joke randomly that he will either be famous for being on Hoarders or Animal Hoarding. He is better as of lately though.
And I'm with you MM. When I watch hoarders, I am a lot better about going through things and deciding whether or not I can live without them.
When I married husband, he made me give up a ton of my junk. (now I can see that it was really junk, but at the time I thought they were treasures.) I grew up poor and then difficult child and middle kid were dirt poor with me when their sperm donor ditched us, so I kept holding on to stuff cause I was afraid I wouldn't ever have money to buy more. Looking back, no kid needs 42 stuffed animals.
I do find it sad. There but for the grace of God go I!

 

[InsaneCdn]

no kid needs 42 stuffed animals

Really?
If that's a sign of being a hoarder, then... my family is in BIG trouble.

 

[EStephens]

I'm not saying you are a hoarder. I had trouble getting rid of the 42 stuffed animals that my kids never played with or even looked at.