Hoarding in Older Adults - Research on Aging 

Children and teenagers need to be taught life skills, and stuff like cleaning up, organizing, acquisition, decluttering, budgeting needs to be taught. Most people are ill-equipped to deal with basic stuff. But later in life, these basic skills are critical to doing better in life.

I wish this presentation had been available about 10 years ago. It may have helped gain insight into the mind of a relative of mine. Another factor that I have noticed with Senior hoarders is that they lived during the depression & didn't have much to eat, were poor, etc. They hoard the things & food they lacked during that time. Excellent, informative video. Thank you!

This practically ruined our family. Untold suffering for decades.

Dr. Ayers is a very empathetic person. Good job

My mother was the exact opposite. She wanted to get rid of things, clear it all out. I had to actually step in and say no, don't throw that out. Drove me bonkers.

I think poverty, either in the past or current, can lead to hoarding...the thought is "I'd never be able to replace this".

Strange...now that I'm getting older I find myself getting rid of things...if I haven't used it in the past year I toss it or donate it. I hate clutter!!

Very well done and highly accurate in my opinion.

Interesting about the perfection, she explained it differently to how I experience it. For me it's more that looking at a large mess is less stressful than having a perfectly clean space because in a perfectly clean space I notice and obssess over every imperfection.

Very informative.

my grandmothers hoarding is a result of buying too much crap off qvc and hsn it was awful just buying tons of stuff you don't even use. after her uti last summer,I had to clean inside her house once she got in the nursing home. you don't even know how much trash I threw out how many bags of clothes I loaded in a uhaul van just to take stuff to donate it was easily over 40 to 50 bags of clothes. it was very overwhelming and I still have more to throw out and donate to goodwill. I tried throwing out boxes she got mad with me because the address would be exposed and her new packages wouldn't arrive.I have to convince her I would mark it off with a sharpie it was embarrassing if someone came to the house. she wouldn't even fix the toilet after the handle broke so she had 3 buckets of fecal water sitting in a bucket when it was about to overflow she got angry with me being I couldn't do anything because I couldn't take off work on a major holiday a day later I got a plumber to come and fix it

Great presentation. It’s going to help me a lot as I have a person near me who needs this help because of an impending move. Also some of the comments below have some useful ideas. Thanks guys.

Seems to be similar to addictive behavior...the thrill of acquiring, balanced with the shame of lack of control. We can look at 'why the pain' rather than 'why the addiction'. Then, we can change.

Very comprehensive. Thanks for posting!

Yay. More cool things coming at me as I slide into my murky golden years.

amazingly helpful

People loving things more than health space people or self-respect could be seen as a symptom of a larger problem: materialism and overconsumption coupled with alienation and a competitive achievement and thus collecting trophies mentality. Lots more needs to change than just the individual.

When one watches these "Hoarding" shows it breaks your heart. Yes some do have a lot of garbage and bad stuff but not all of them. Some it actually is an accumulation of things that started with something major that happened in their lives such as loss of a loved one or loved ones and not dealing with that grief that also spirals into depression and grief not dealt with. Then gets to a point to of being so totally overwhelmed and to a point where they cannot deal with it on their own but they are ashamed and nowhere to turn for help. They already feel ashamed, isolated and devalued and then someone comes in and gets angry with them and wants to just throw everything away at once which causes the desperation, and feelings of being overwhelmed even more strong and also feeling threatened then. I know that it is time consuming but why can they not treat them with anger and rushing them and instead tell them that yes some of their things do have value and perhaps suggest that someone that has lost their home due to fires, etc. or domestic abuse and needs to start a new place to live could use these things of value to better their lives thereby letting them know that their things are not devalued and neither are they. I think they would more likely turn lose of more things if they thought that some of their things are actually going somewhere to help someone else in need.

And sometimes it’s rooted deeply in narcissism. I have a stubborn narc relative who thinks it’s normal and has fought tooth and nail with all the wonderful people who’ve tried to help her. There are studies now that suspect narcissism is a major factor. We need to stop coddling these people who have valued their hoard over their families. I am one of those people.😢

Suffered with this. Started as OCD. Other fam. Members also have this. Making progress on my own...slowly. Helps to find a place to donate. Finding ways to let go...fits me to a T. Ready to change...

Very informative. Well done.

Photograph their precious stuff Journal the stories Assemble a memory album to keep!

The guided journal "Throw It Away" by Guru Notebooks is great for this. It's on amazon.

Should also do applied behavior analysis or operant conditioning as treatment.

It is never too late to learn about hoarding disorder. Everyone can help their loved ones who struggle with the problem.

Do you have any videos on how to help Hoarding Disorder in younger people (20’s). Before it becomes serious much later. It’s already serious but contained to only the rooms in a family home that they have control over. Our family is very concerned.

Since my dad has become ill he has become a serious hoarder especially with old papers and bills. It's so sad to see him live this way I try to help him and talk gently with kindness but he does not want me to clean up or organize his stuff. His den is so dirty and it stinks bad. I'm at my wits end.

Difficulty discarding things.. That sounds familiar. My husband never likes to take out the garbage

I'm with Joy Handy. I have people who tell me I have a lot of stuff. However, I'm also told that I am one of the most organized and well stocked person they had ever met. Also like Joy Handy, I too have limited space, especially after the flood. I was forced to move back with my parents, so my stuff, which fitted well in a two bedroom home, is now all crammed in a 12 by 15 feet room. You don't feel claustrophobic, because I organized the stuff well enough on the shelves and most of the stuff are in bins. I also have a tiny storage unit outside with three large bins filled with my books, school supplies for work, and paintings. I hope to someday to get my own place again. My 4ft by 10ft closet is way too small for the things that were once in the livingroom and sewing/costume room of the old home. :) Anyways I noticed that many of these hoarders have really huge homes. All of my stuff would fit comfortably and nicely in just one of their rooms, and still have room to include a new sofa and book shelves. O_O I feel so left out, others are obsessive with bigger homes, yet here I am thinking a 30 by 30 home is a good size for me and a family. I like the closeness that tiny homes gives. Forces one to connect with everyone and everything. :) Mansions look and feel lonely and cold. :( Thank you for sharing this video. I love studies made about how elderly live. So little information about that demographic, yet we all end up down that road. There are many studies on younger people, but rarely do we get to know the aging population. I think that is interesting and important to know about. Thank you again.

Yes! The clutter Is a SYMPTOM.

I like this very informative video. Would like to know how someone who is living next to a hoarder should react say when they are trying to sell their house or if there are more pests because of the hoard.

For sanity, watch this at 1.5 X speed. By the way, those are forward slashes.

I thought this was empathetic and sensitively done... I found this helpful in terms of treatment - at least they are not putting these people on drugs, know where to start working with them, and are doing cognitive behavioral therapy with them. Seems a good course to take.

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of the informational slides used in this video please?

My entire family tree on my dad's side does this. We all show signs of anxiety and perfectionism too. They deny it all, naturally.

It’s the worse when you’re the one keeping things in order and someone in your family that was suppose to educate you in life has had this problem ~ growing up in this ain’t fun,

i would to talk to you dr, im 43 and my haord is getting out of conrtrol

I donated something ..but I am so distressed and depressed 😔 just want to get it back somehow....obsessed with collecting shopping bags ,socks ,shoes,....more since my kids left home...as more space available 😢

Thank God I am A minimalist....less shit to deal with....freeeeeeeeeeeedom.

Bit worrying, my partner is an older hoarder. He cleared some stuff then immediately refilled it. I doubt whether he will be offered mental health help in our country.

Treatment for hoarding elderly people? What about caring for them?

is there any connection to hoarding and addiction, such as alcoholism????

At 12:23, she says that she doesn't see hoarders getting over it. She sees it as an ongoing, chronic condition. And she says that this is different from other psychiatric illnesses like depression and other anxiety disorders, which come and go during different phases of life, while hoarding stays. That's what she says. But aren't there other psychiatric disorders that are equally persistent? For example, addictions are managed but not completely cured. Maybe hoarders are addicted to shopping, to the hunt, or addicted to their possessions, to owning a wide array of choices. Maybe hoarding should be treated with a 12-step program and a sponsor. Or maybe hoarding is like a Personality disorder. Personality disorders are lifelong patterns of limited ways of relating to other people. Maybe hoarding is like that, but in relation to things instead of people.

Because they lived thru the depression never throw away may need it later

Does anyone know where to learn how to help children of hoarders? Teens with a parent struggling with grief and hoarding (older parent who has hoarded for years).

I can almost never discard a browser bookmark.

My mother is 86 she started hoarding around in her forties and then it progressed into the eighties and it is a toxic environment we try to get our help over the years she refuses we did everything we could even other people she's very controlling she has obsessive compulsive personality disorder And it's toxic level it's very hard to deal with her and all of us are affected by it's affected by it we don't know what to do we can only pray

My Grandmother rips on my Mom for saving stuff too much, but will not have a problem sending my Mom broken applances, like the dead printer, because Grandmother knows mom will archive it instead of tossing it out. So then grandmother doesn't have to feel bad about dumping something that could maybe be fixed, yet never gets fixed, but stays in the pile of the second bedroom that is full to the roof and to the door, can't even get in it. Pisses me off. Quit sending stuff to be mothballed for petesake.

I don't think you have it all right there. I know hoarders and yes they have mental illness but their hoarding seems more like a symptom or side effect of a much deeper problem. Loose the focus on the stuff and treat the person. If they have depression thats very serious and they will use hoading as a way to self medicate in some cases none of the people I know have ever had treatment for depression, their isolated and have got stuck. The focus always seems to be on the symptoms instead of healing for the person from within. Im prone to hoarding behaviour when I am in a major depressive episode and the house will turn to shit very fast. But when my depression is back under control and I feel better I have a massive cleanup and sometimes people want to clean up and are too overwhelmed and don't know where to start the whole task seems so daunting and difficult they just don't do it and it causes more anxiety and so on. It's very complicated. If you take away what they are used to doing to feel better and don't address why they were doing it they will replace it or start again.

Most older adults lived through the depression in the 1930s. They had nothing and worked hard to acquire things. In their golden years they cannot part with stuff because 1. they might need it, 2. it can be fixed 3. they do not want to waste things because "waste not, want not". During the depression, people reused everything.

Worried about $ alot too, in past.

my dad hoards magazines and containers along with tons of other crap, i refuse to go to his house unless it involves a dumpster and clean out.

I am one of those people who have gotten angry countless times. Yelling “enough with the BS!” simply wouldn’t do it. The person would simply just shut down and be in denial 😔😣

That paper hoarding translates to the internet. A million tabs, bookmarks, and files.

When you get a person to get rid of their stuff and stop hoarding, what do you replace the hoarding behaviors with when the hoarder is used to buying or bringing things into the house?

These days anyone who isn't a minimalist is called a "hoarder". Family members overreact and threaten older relatives. It's more about punishment for "deviance" than anything else.

I am 70 and have a hard time listening to younger people who have an appearance of an adult talking to a class of children.... This happens more as we age... my dental Dental Hygienist is still telling me to brush up and down like I am 5 years old... This is how this person comes across even though the info is great

All of this makes me wonder if there is a DSM category for busybody psychiatrists who insist on sticking their noses into everyone else's business. Yes, there are legitimate hoarders who persist in clinging onto things which might remotely be useful at sometime. On the other hand, I have been around people who are just plain trashy and too lazy to clean up after themselves. Let us not confuse hoarders with outright filthy slobs.

SSRI will not help and will actually worsen the situation due to side effects and withdrawals. Often withdrawals will be seen as patients condition getting worse and will be poly-medicated.

My friend is very disorganized her ceiling fell in, her pipes are broken, she has trashed her home and has too many animals. She needs to move off her property as it rains in her house. She is over 65 and she will not change and does not want to. She is HIGHLY offended by suggestions to sell her property and move. She had no heat or water and she has been told not to have so many animals via court. She complains about her environment and blames others. By having animals she distracts herself as it is a full time job. She recently had a decrease in her fixed income and she will not work. I gently suggest she needs to have a place with running water, heat and air conditioning as I told her to rent a room. I am trying to save her life. She is overwhelmed with filth and clutter and is not willing to change. Too sad

Some of the photographs (especially at the beginning over this video) seem over the top - People can be hoarding and still be somewhat organized. That is the critical time to change behavior. These people who are "on the edge" are so often dismissed when hoarding programs focus on the extreme hoarders for (my opinion) sensationalism. What about focusing on those on the edge??

"Healthy" hoarding often comes in families that have experienced war environments, since as my dad's & uncle's (WW2, East Asia). Distress, disease, level are uncommon to Chinese families. My concern is how dependents (children, teens, etc) can try to habilitate their elders. Identify, group support, treat - otherwise these junior dependents will unconsciously repeat childhood history: obsessions with property, money, babies, ... avoiding futures.

I am a hoarder to a point I think. I keep alot of things and collect many. But I don't keep trash and I am very clean.

my mom... to contrast I have anorexia and OCD :(

Psychotherapy is not about the empathy. Empathy is overrated at best (see book "Against Empathy", Paul Bloom). It's about scientifically examining the roots of the disorder, its manifestations and coming up with the most likely successful treatment plans or approaches. Also I noticed a "VA" credit in front of her name in a screen tab - not sure how that figures in with UCSD in working with Dept. VA.

My parents hv th same disorder.

Tornadoes etc declutters instantly. I see people, who have lost everything, but they were not killed. Just give the stuff away, and do not throw out.

Is hoarding more a problem in western society than non-western?

My father hords money...Really

I have a friend that calls me a hoarder, because I have so much stuff in the apartment. She would be clutterd too if she didn't have a storage unit. I frequently thin stuff out, and I keep my home tidy. I do have a bunch of stuft animals, glass dolls, and minions, and books. But it's all shelved, and clean. I have a cup of silly topped pens. I have about 100 movies, again all shelved and clean. Only my closet is a wreck due to lack of room for stuff, and not able to use the second bedroom due to needing a roomie. My friend has 3 bedrooms to spread out in so it looks different for her. I don't think I am a hoarder. I frequently give stuff away. My trash goes out. I think she is completely wrong about me.

I think I have so many "toys" because I have a really damaged kid in me from life being war since birth.

Less can be more- I have noticed for me.

I take serious issue with, "We know there's a strong genetic component, so if you have a first degree relative with this condition you're much more likely to have it.". Even now in 2020, I don't find any studies that even come close to proving this statement. Throwing this type of definitive "fact" out there from a clinical perspective is unethical and irresponsible. Family of hoarders are already highly traumatized dealing with the devastating emotional and physical fallout of this mental illness. They shouldn't have to live in fear of succumbing to it in their lifetime because an "authority" in the field pronounces a virtually inescapable jail sentence.

Yes, they hoard cats too...

this is not covered by health insurance

I'm in my mid-70s now. I'm not a hoarder, my house is functioning well, people come over, I have no problem doing things I need to do, I keep it clean, everything 'works' as it should, etc. I routinely throw away any food that has gone off, routinely go through medicine drawers and discard out of date medications, etc. I throw junk mail in the bin the second it enters the house, and clear out my filing cabinet routinely, getting rid of old bills, etc. I recently disposed of my old computer and paraphernalia, and gave most of my art supplies which I no longer use to a couple of friends who were delighted to get them. However, I've found myself lately (the last 10 years, maybe) worrying that I won't be able to replace small appliances and other important items that wear out. When I go to replace them, hey ho, that kind of thing isn't made any more, etc. So I've found myself lately buying two of anything I like, while these things are still available. The almost instant obsolescence of just about everything these days, I reckon, can trigger a tendency to over-accumulate. So far, this hasn't taken over my life at all, but I do feel there is a possibility that it might get out of hand. I also worry that I can't get rid of things very easily. Not because I want to keep the stuff, but because where do I dispose of it? I'm perfectly happy to have a clear-out and see the back of things I don't need or want any more. But because my husband and I don't have a car, it's difficult to dispose of things that are still good ...even things like CDs and DVDs that we don't watch or listen to any more. We did get rid of 22 boxes of books a while back, to clear out our 8 bookcases, because a book re-seller company was willing to come and collect them. However, that company no longer does that sort of thing. (I'm so happy to use Kindle, so I can keep reading new stuff without accumulating it.) It is wasteful to throw perfectly good items in the trash-which I have actually found myself doing, on occasion, simply because I haven't the means to get them to a charity shop. Where I live (Scotland) there are no 'yard sales,' so that's not an option. These are the kinds of issues that can bedevil an older person. And yes, if you've lived in the same home for many years (my husband moved to this house when he was 14 years old, and he's now 78. I moved here when we got married nearly 40 years ago) things do accumulate. What I wish is that I could periodically pile all the 'usable' stuff I no longer want in one place, and then somebody would come and collect it and take it to a good home. (Dishes, clothing-although I've kept on top of that pretty well-materials for hobbies I no longer engage in, CDs, DVDs, etc. Christmas decorations I no longer use, etc.) I would feel so much more spry if I had less stuff and more space. I am in good health and can still get around fairly well (although my husband struggles to) but for how much longer? I wonder if other older people would benefit from this kind of outside help in disposing of things BEFORE it begins to look like they are becoming hoarders.

OMg, she smacks her lips constantly. Never do that when making a video or speaking it is amplified and very annoying. It is a good video so I toughed it out. She seems to be very credible and genuine.

Working on one room is a problem I guarantee things are moving into another room

Getting out of a horrible marriage.

just turned 65 wife will not throw anything out!.......

Great information, annoying lip smacking littering and cluttering the verbal presentation.

If only you would look at it from an autistic and ADHD perspective you would see that what you call “hoarding disorder” is related to autistic traits such as collecting objects related to special interests, seeing individual items rather than the bigger picture, hyperempathy towards objects and object permanence, and executive function problems from ADHD. If you bothered to research it properly and carry out autism and ADHD assessments you would see they’re undiagnosed autistic and ADHD. Until then, this information is useless and any “help” offered will never work because you can’t change the way our brains are wired.

Urges to save never seems to happen with cash - and that's no accident ....you are condemned for that.

You didn't specify the main reasons for hoarding: 1. EMOTIONAL trauma 2. Lonelyness (lack of all those happiness HORMONES). 3. The feeling of being unsupported. People's feeling lonely and unsupported, will find joy in ITEMS. It's them only way of joy to find and collect items. A happy person surrounded by supporting family and many friends will NEVER EVER become hoarders!!!

i ft all your standards to a t

Is this really just her talking for an hour and fifteen minutes

Cat urine? Cat litter filled? What does this so called psychologist start with that?

Seems like a long talk about obvious observations - nothing groundbreaking here 😏

All diseases can be healed in Jesus’s name. It’s a disease and Jesus can heal these people 🙏

This woman's mouth smacking drives me nuts. I can't watch it all. She's murdering me.

Wow...another disorder. Do you ever teach people self control

The disorder is "looking to diagnose a hoarding disorder" and it is the psychiatrist that has it. Hoard if you want hoard. Nothing wrong with it. What happened to being an individual. Why should a person have to use every "living space" in their house or apartment in the same way as the average person does?