Hoarding in Late Life: Implications for Clinicians

Hoarding disorder (HD), a recent addition to DSM-5, is characterized primarily by difficulty in discarding current possessions, urges to save items, and excessive clutter in the home. In addition to HD, hoarding behaviors may result from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, depression, and even some eating disorders. DSM-5 criteria for HD necessitate that the hoarding behaviors cause clinically significant impairment in the patient’s ability to function and that the symptoms are not the result of either a medical condition or other psychiatric disorder.