Publication (142 pages).

The biggest controversy in the medical
hoarding literature is how to classify the
behaviour.
From the beginning many suggested that excessive accumulation and difficulty
discarding were directly linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Hoarders display
symptoms
of other diseases
linked with
“impulse control.
From the beginning, many
suggested that excessive accumulation
and difficulty discarding
were directly linked to
obsessive-compulsive disorder
(OCD). Many studies have
since been conducted refuting
the link between hoarding
behaviour and OCD.
One study conducted looked
at the relation between core
features of hoarding (clutter,
difficulty discarding, acquiring)
and other mental diseases
including OCD and attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) (Tolin and Villavicencio
2011). After conducting
multiple regression analysis
with the data collected
from self proclaimed hoarders,
non-hoarding OCD patients,
and healthy control
groups, they found that the
presence of OCD symptoms
did not predict any of the
core features of hoarding behaviour.
Predictive capacity
for hoarding behaviour was
increased, however, when
adult ADHD symptoms of
inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity
were added
to the models. This draws attention
to a stronger link between
hoarding and ADHD
than OCD. Another study
measured comorbidity with
OCD symptoms and found
that fewer than 20% of
hoarding participants met
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