There are two types of treatment that have been proven to be effective for OCD and are considered standard. They are front-line treatments: pharmacotherapy (treatment with medications) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), using the technique of exposure and response prevention (E&RP). 7
Cognitive behavior therapy is
the most common form of
psychotherapy used to treat
hoarding. As part of cognitive
behavior therapy:
›Explore why feel
compelled to hoard
›Learn to organize and
categorize possessions to
help decide which
ones to discard
›Declutter home
during in-home visits by a
therapist or professional
organizer
›Learn and practice
relaxation skills
›Attend group therapy
›Be encouraged to consider
psychiatric hospitalization
if hoarding is severe
›Have periodic visits or
ongoing treatment to help
keep up healthy habits-Mayo Clinic»
•5 Stages of Change for Compulsive Hoarding
»Motivation and Compulsive Hoarding Treatment
»How is it treated?
»Is there a cure?
»Problems in treating it
»What to expect in treatment
»How to know if your therapist knows how to treat OCD?
»Intensive Treatment Programs for OCD
»Understanding Treatment Options
Some tools:
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Dysfunctional Thought Record
Subjective Units of Distress
Questions to ask while decluttering
Goals of therapy for hoarders:
-- Avoid repeatedly asking: "Why? Why do I hoard?" Recovery doesn't require an answer to "Why?" Remember: obsessive-compulsive disorder is not logical. Ask instead: "What is my objective? How can I best get there?"
-- Develop an ability to tolerate intense emotions. Rate intensity of feelings on a scale of 1 to 10. Observe changes in intensity of feelings. Notice that feelings come and go; saving things is not required to reduce anxiety.
-- Only Handle It Once. Deal with each item only once as soon as it comes into the house, instead of storing items to check more thoroughly later. Do not retrieve items from the trash when second thoughts raise doubt.
-- Simplify decision-making. Limit choices, (e.g., keep, recycle, sell, give or throw away). Make clear decision rules for each choice, (e.g., keep only 10 plastic bags, dispose of or recycle others). Use broad categories instead of many specific ones. Accept that others, including experts, may do things differently.
-- Buy and keep "just enough." Sales will be repeated. If you run out, it is not a disaster. Keep items you use, dispose of others.
-- Focus on functionality. Select a target, for example, an area such as the kitchen or a corner of a room. "Excavate" the target by throwing away and organizing items. Maintain clear space. Use the cleared space only for its intended purpose.
-- Seek assistance or another opinion. Hoarders have a hard time determining what is "important vs. unimportant," "just enough vs. excessive" or "necessary vs. inconsequential." Seek guidance from a friend or professional. Persevere with your goals. -Source
The more people who Hoard that will dare to step forward to seek
treatment, the better the treatments will become since this means that
there will be more cases to be studied, more facts to look into. Also, the
higher the number of sufferers, the more the Medical World will
become interested to help and find cures with more money backing up
the research projects.
By raising popular awareness and asking for professional help some of
the shame may finally start to lessen and solutions start to increase.
-UOCHD website»
Are There Medications for it?
Initial studies suggest that antidepressants offer little help for hoarding. "More research has yet to be done trying other types of drugs," Steketee said.
Sanjaya Saxena, M.D. says:
Effective medication treatments for OCD include the serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) medications. These are citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). The tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine (Anafranil), which also strongly inhibits the reuptake of serotonin.
The compulsive hoarding syndrome, has often proven refractory to treatment with these standard medications.
In several studies of OCD treatment, hoarding and saving compulsions have been strongly associated with poor response to SRIs. A small study using open treatment with paroxetine or CBT for OCD patients found that nonresponders were significantly more likely to have hoarding/saving symptoms than responders. Hoarding and saving symptoms were a significant predictor of nonresponse.
Another case series described treatment response in 18 compulsive hoarders treated openly with a variety of SRIs. Only one of the 18 had a marked response. Nine had partial responses; and nine had minimal or no response. In an analysis of large-scale, multicenter, controlled trials of SRI treatment for patients with OCD, higher scores on the hoarding symptom dimension predicted poorer response to SRI treatment, after controlling for baseline severity.
Compulsive hoarding is a clear predictor of poor response to standard anti-obsessional medications. Despite this fact, no prior medication treatment study has specifically targeted the compulsive-hoarding syndrome.7
Read more about: Neurobiology and Medication
Where do I find a treatment center, provider or
in-person support group?
•Where is it treated?
•Doctors, Therapists & Counselors, by state/country
»OCD Treatment Therapist List from the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation
Additional resources for finding a therapist:
»ADAA
»ACT
»ABCT
»OCD LA
»General Therapists
What if the (Cognitive Behavioral) therapist I found isn't familiar with Hoarding?
Get them:
»Chapter 1: Treatment Guide for Clinicians
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