What Are the Different Emotional Experiences of People Who Hoard?

What you need to know

• People who hoard can have very different emotional experiences related to their hoarding behaviors
• The study identified four distinct emotional profiles: emotionally overwhelmed, social emotions, object complexity, and object-affect fusion
• Understanding these different emotional experiences could help improve treatments for hoarding disorder

Background on hoarding disorder

Hoarding disorder is a mental health condition where people have persistent difficulty discarding possessions, regardless of their actual value. This results in the accumulation of items that clutter living spaces and interfere with their intended use. Hoarding can cause significant distress and impair daily functioning.

While hoarding disorder is now recognized as a distinct diagnosis, there is still much to learn about the emotional experiences of people who hoard. The cognitive-behavioral model of hoarding includes emotional attachment to possessions as an important factor, but the emotional lives of people who hoard have not been studied as extensively as other aspects.

Exploring emotions in hoarding using Q-methodology

To gain a deeper understanding of the emotions involved in hoarding, researchers used an approach called Q-methodology. This technique combines qualitative and quantitative methods to identify shared viewpoints or experiences among a group of people.

The researchers first generated a set of 49 statements about emotions related to hoarding based on interviews and existing research. Then, 44 participants with problematic hoarding sorted these statements according to how much they agreed or disagreed with them. The researchers analyzed these sorted statements to identify clusters of participants with similar emotional experiences.

Four distinct emotional profiles

The analysis revealed four distinct clusters or profiles of emotional experiences among the participants who hoard:

1. Emotionally overwhelmed

This group of participants felt highly distressed by their hoarding and had difficulty discarding items due to stress and anxiety. They did not seem to place special value on objects themselves, but felt overwhelmed by the extent of their hoarding. As a result, they struggled to start addressing the problem.

Key experiences for this group included:

• Feeling distressed when thinking about or actually discarding possessions
• Postponing dealing with hoarding due to anxiety
• Feeling embarrassed about the state of their home
• Avoiding discarding because it feels too stressful

One participant in this group shared: “Thinking about getting rid of my things makes me so anxious. I know I need to deal with it, but I just feel paralyzed and don’t know where to start.”

2. Social emotions

This cluster was characterized by strong concerns about how their hoarding affected their relationships and how others perceived them. They worried about others seeing their cluttered home and felt their hoarding was damaging their relationships.

Key experiences included:

• Fearing what would happen if someone came to their home
• Worrying that others think they are disgusting
• Feeling their hoarding is destructive to relationships
• Getting excitement from acquiring new items, but questioning why they have so much stuff

A participant expressed: “I’m constantly worried about what others think. I’m afraid if anyone saw my house, they’d be horrified and think I’m a terrible person. It’s really hurting my relationships.”

3. Object complexity

Participants in this group focused on the potential usefulness or value of objects. They felt responsible for making use of items and experienced guilt when discarding things. However, they did not seem to derive emotional comfort from their possessions.

Key experiences were:

• Thinking about how objects could be used in the future
• Feeling guilty about throwing items away
• Seeing the potential in objects
• Feeling responsible for making use of items that could be useful

One person shared: “I see the potential in everything. It feels wasteful to get rid of something that could be useful someday. I feel guilty if I throw away things that still have value.”

4. Object-affect fusion

This small cluster of participants experienced a strong emotional connection to their possessions. They felt their belongings were extensions of themselves and provided emotional comfort and companionship.

Key experiences included:

• Feeling that letting go of an item was like letting go of a part of themselves
• Enjoying being around their possessions
• Getting a sense of companionship from possessions
• Loving some belongings the way they love people

A participant described: “My things are a part of me. They comfort me and keep me company. Getting rid of them would be like losing a piece of myself.”

Implications for understanding and treating hoarding

This study reveals that people who hoard can have very different emotional experiences related to their hoarding behaviors. While all participants met criteria for problematic hoarding, the underlying emotions driving their behaviors varied considerably.

Understanding these distinct emotional profiles could help improve treatments for hoarding disorder. Current cognitive-behavioral treatments may need to be adapted to address the specific emotional experiences of different individuals. For example:

• Emotionally overwhelmed hoarders may benefit from strategies to manage anxiety and break tasks into less overwhelming steps
• Those with strong social emotions may need interventions focused on addressing relationship concerns and social anxiety
• Object complexity hoarders might respond well to cognitive restructuring around beliefs about wastefulness and responsibility
• Individuals with object-affect fusion may require techniques to reduce emotional attachment to possessions and find healthier sources of comfort

The researchers note that these emotional experiences are not mutually exclusive. Some individuals may relate to multiple profiles to varying degrees. The profiles simply highlight common patterns that emerged in this sample.

Conclusions

• People who hoard can have diverse emotional experiences driving their hoarding behaviors
• Four distinct emotional profiles were identified: emotionally overwhelmed, social emotions, object complexity, and object-affect fusion
• Understanding these different emotional experiences could lead to more targeted and effective treatments for hoarding disorder
• Further research is needed to explore how these emotional profiles might impact treatment outcomes and if they change over time

While this study provides valuable insights into the emotional lives of people who hoard, it also highlights the complexity of the disorder. Hoarding behaviors that look similar on the surface may be driven by very different underlying emotional experiences. This emphasizes the importance of thorough assessment and individualized treatment approaches when working with people who hoard.