Publication (142 pages).

internet access. Randy Frost and David Tolin conducted
a large Internet survey that involved both self-identified
hoarders as well as non-hoarding individuals with a hoarding
relative. The results of this data setwere published in several
papers7. However, the results come with the knowledge that this
data set was limited by not only self-identification as a hoarder
but more importantly by access to internet and exposure to
the project, which may have limited the sample diversity. All of
these flaws may be small and many controlled for, but they beg
the question about unreported and unidentified ‘hoarders’. These
people may be unreported for a reason linked to the severity of
hoarding, or due to lack of peer or societal pressure. Or, they may
not identify with the definition of hoarding as a problem and
have no interest in changing their behaviour. This subset of people
may be important in understanding the structure and causes
of the behaviour and removing individual mental illness from the
classification. The medical literature that exists is expansive and
covers several different aspects of hoarding behaviour; however all
research remains in a medical discussion on mental health diseases.
While some survey results provide important information as
to how hoarding impacts daily life and the welfare state, it is important
to recognize the methodological limits to understanding
hoarding behaviour through a medicalized lens. Medicalization is
a process of definition; hoarding has become a medical problem
through defining the behaviour as a mental health disorder that
requires intervention and assistance. While there exists an abun-
Medicalization is a process
of definition; hoarding has
become a medical problem
defining the behaviour
as a mental health
disorder.
66