Question: Symptoms of OCD, saving, collecting, and hoarding; also shopping pushed by anxiety, relieved by raising my Zoloft to 250mg a day. What is the relationship between “magical thinking” and OCD. My Doctor gave me an excellent tape of a lecture on “the illusion of absolute safety” we get from our parents and carry into …
Question: My dad (77) has been hoarding junk for 30 years. He lives alone and refuses treatment. I have just been to his apartment the 1st time in 10 years (without his knowing). It is so filled with junk; there is no place to walk. He must crawl over 4 feet of piles to get …
Question: I come from a family that has exhibited hoarding behavior for 3 generations. My mother, brother and uncle all have houses that are impossible to enter. My siblings and I are at our wits end as to how to intervene and things are becoming monetarily complicated with so many properties in total disarray. Any …
Question: My mom, first cousin and another cousin have the hoarding OCD that I know of. How possible is it that I too will acquire this in later life. They all did it mainly in their later years of life to the point of having no home left. Pauline Answer 1: At this point we …
Question: Having just discovered that my hoarding/saving is an OCD, I’m immersing myself in the literature & want to start treatment with an experienced BT. I’m not depressed, but have spent years in/out of therapy with non-BT’s. Can you advise (without an actual assessment) if BT alone might be effective (with aggressive goals and compliance)? …
Question: My 46 year old brother collects junk to the point where he has lost his wife and job, and the city has fined him and made him go to court. Nothing wakes him up. Is this a symptom of OCD? Is it treatable by medication or psychiatrist? Answer 1: Yes, it’s a symptom of …
Question: I have OCD symptoms primarily saving, collecting, and hoarding. From shopping near ruinous finances. Cluttered house with small pathways through rooms. 200mg Zoloft has helped with other symptoms such as carrying too much in multiple pockets and bags, but not with the acquisitiveness. Shopping seems to sublimate a desire for closeness with other people …
Question: A friend of mine has a severe problem with collecting “stuff,” to the point where he can barely get into his flat, and his car is completely filled with junk. This has become overwhelming for him and thinks about it constantly, though he rarely summons the energy to do anything about it. He claims …
Question: My mom saves everything, and has filled my parents’ large house from top to bottom. She wants very much to change, but knows she can’t do it alone. She’s asked me to find help because she hasn’t been able to seek it herself – she’s afraid. She’s willing to go to “OCD camp’ (if …
Question: A family member collects things (clothes others throw out, broken strollers from the street, doors from rehabbed apartments, etc.) and will throw nothing out. Her apartment is literally unusable because it is so full of junk. This has a serious impact on spouse and children. Is this OCD? Thanks Irene – South Lanarkshire. Answer …