How to Treat Hoarding Disorder(囤积症)
Many of us struggle to part with treasured belongings, but for years Stephanie Evans felt too hard to leave everything she'd ever bought. Her bedroom, meanwhile, was so full of piles of clothes that, until recently, she had to sleep on the sofa in the living room.
Stephanie suffers from hoarding disorder, thought to affect an estimated 3.4 million people in the UK to some degree. But, like many, she didn't think it was something doctors would treat. In fact, hoarding is recognized as a psychiatric disorder(精神疾病) by the World Health Organization. It can be associated with other mental health conditions such as depression and social anxiety, etc. Those affected people will collect anything, such as clothes, newspapers, photos, even printouts of emails.
If a person lost something important in the childhood, he or she would resist any further losses. That's why hoarders refuse to part with things. Hoarding can have far-reaching effects on a person's life. People can lose their children and their homes due to hoarding.
Hoarding disorder, like many other illnesses, can never really be “cured”. Clearing out someone's overcrowded house is rarely effective on its own, because he or she will just fill it up again. If and when hoarding disorder is diagnosed, the mental health professional, the patient's primary care physician, and any specialists or other professionals involved will work together to develop a coordinated treatment. For most people with hoarding disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy(认知行为治疗) with a mental health professional is the first choice treatment. It can often help the hoarders accept that there is a problem, and then possibly develop solutions.
Because hoarding disorder is still relatively new as a distinct condition, treatment plans may be somewhat less standardized. For instance, there is still disagreement regarding if and how to use medicine to treat hoarding disorder.
A. So she didn't seek any help.
B. Hoarders may also have problems planning and organizing.
C. However, it can be successfully treated with the right mix of treatment methods.
D. The common time for it to come is when people are middle-aged or older and living alone.
E. Hopefully, some people with the condition do seem to respond well to certain kind of medicine.
F. As a result, her hallway and living room were packed with towering stacks of books and magazines.
G. One theory is that having experienced loss in the past can make people suffer from hoarding disorder.
