Compulsive hoarders, people who have an obsession with collecting and storing often worthless objects are being starting to be recognised as people who genuinely have a form of a mental illness, according to a new report.
The Catholic Community Services (CCS), which released the report and runs a program specifically for hoarders, says an estimated 1 million Australians are unable to discard worthless objects, which often leads to other problems that affects the sufferer’s health and mental wellbeing.
Spokeswoman Annabel Senior said more than one third of the CSS’s clients had lived in squalor among worthless material they have collected over a long period. “The living conditions of the physical environment become such that there might be vermin infestation, no running water, no power.”
Dr Chris Mogan, who treats compulsive hoarders in Australia, describes the problem as a “severe over-attachment to things”. And that “it is five times more prevalent than schizophrenia” and panic attacks, He adds suffering is often added for hoarders as the problem is not often recognised. “It’s a hidden giant.”
