“I Can’t Let Anything Go:” A Case Study with Psychological Testing of a Patient with Pathologic Hoarding

Pathologic hoarding is a symptom generally recognized as related to obsessional dynamics (Gutheil, 1959). The hoarder cannot, without great anxiety, tolerate separation from or dispose of his possessions. Thus the hoarder accumulates vast amount of possessions, often in such amounts as to compromise freedom of movement in the residence. Popular in tabloid reportage, such news items portray persons found dead among floor-to-ceiling piles of old newspapers and similar detritus, while in actual clinical practice such dramatic cases are not common (Bryk, 2005; Duenwald, 2004). More importantly, such individuals are rarely available for psychological intervention or testing, both because of social isolation and injury or death caused by the hoarded materials. Additionally, a majority of the current literature regarding hoarding is linked with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), though other major disorders have been noted.

This report describes a particular individual with characteristic features of hoarding, which is explored through formal psychological testing.