Throughout our lives we acquire objects in one way or another to which we feel a greater or lesser attachment. An inheritance, a gift with great sentimental value or any object that may have been with us for a long time can make us feel intense discomfort when it comes to getting rid of it.
Even so, we are aware that we cannot definitively save everything that we acquire throughout our lives. For this reason, we are getting rid of those objects that have become obsolete, do not serve us, etc.
However, there are people for whom this process causes intense discomfort and they are unable to carry it out, giving rise to a problem called dysposophobia. If you want to know more about it, continue reading this Psychology-Online article, in which we will talk about dysposophobia: meaning, causes and treatment.
Meaning of dysposophobia
If you are wondering what dysposophobia is, it refers to the pathological and compulsive accumulation of objects and belongings that a person carries out when faced with the impossibility of getting rid of them. The person who suffers from dysposophobia is not able to get rid of these belongings, either by throwing them in the trash, selling them, giving them away or recycling them. That’s why he tends to accumulate them in a disorganized way.
The accumulation is such that it can occupy large spaces in the person’s home, leaving some rooms unusable. Furthermore, depending on the objects accumulated, unhealthy situations and/or scenarios may occur. In this sense, animals whose state of deterioration may also accumulate.
This whole situation leads the person to present social relationship problems with family and friends. Furthermore, unhealthy situations can cause neighborhood conflicts. Therefore, the person who suffers from dysposophobia may present, to a greater or lesser degree, .
Characteristics of people with dysposophobia
People who suffer from dysposophobia, or hoarding syndrome, may also show, following Rodríguez, JA (2014): perfectionism, procrastination, indecision or difficulties in planning or organization, among others.
Although a person can accumulate any type of belongings, the truth is that the most common thing is that they accumulate newspapers, magazines, old clothes, bags, books, appliances and documents.
Symptoms of dysposophobia according to diagnostic classifications
Dysposophobia is included in the main diagnostic classifications. Both the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association) and the ICD-11 (World Health Organization) include this problem under the name hoarding disorder. In both classifications, the disorder is included within the category of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders.
Hoarding disorder must meet a series of criteria to be diagnosed. Following the DSM-5 classification, the symptoms of dysposophobia are:
- Persistent difficulty getting rid of or giving up possessions regardless of whether these possessions have real value or not.
- The difficulty is due to a perceived need to put things away and the discomfort that appears when the person gets rid of said things.
- Since the person feels difficulty getting rid of their belongings, they begin to accumulate them so that the rooms of the house are full of belongings.
- Accumulation causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning.
- The accumulation is not due to the effects of other diseases such as cerebrovascular diseases, brain injuries, etc.
- The hoarding is not better explained by the symptoms of other disorders such as the obsessions of obsessive-compulsive disorder or the loss of energy of , for example.
Variables of dysposophobia
Within the DSM-5 classification that we are following, hoarding disorder can have different types of variables. Let’s see which ones:
- With excessive acquisition: In addition to not getting rid of belongings, the patient acquires things that he does not need or for which he does not have the necessary space at home.
- With good or acceptable introspection: The patient recognizes that beliefs and behaviors related to hoarding are problematic.
- With absence of introspection: (or with delusional beliefs) the patient is convinced that the beliefs and behaviors related to hoarding are not problematic.
Causes of dysposophobia
Why is a person a hoarder? As we have noted, the main characteristic of hoarding disorder is the difficulty getting rid of belongings. Why does this difficulty appear? The causes of dysposophobia proposed in Rodríguez, JA (2014) for the appearance of these difficulties are the following:
- The perception of usefulness or aesthetic value.
- A strong sentimental attachment to objects.
- Fear of deleting important information and its negative consequences.
Dysposophobia treatment
To understand the treatment of dysposophobia we must keep in mind that until the latest DSM-5 classification it has been considered a type of . In this framework, the intervention strategy is similar in both disorders.
The intervention strategies used for the treatment of dysposophobia have been:
- : In this, exposure therapy, cognitive therapy can be used to treat irrational ideas and beliefs and strategies that are aimed at improving the patient’s organizational strategies.
- Drug therapy: will accompany cognitive behavioral therapy.
However, as we always indicate, the case must be assessed by a professional to determine the particularities and choose the best intervention for that particular case.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Dysposophobia: meaning, causes and treatmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- Cruzado Rodríguez, JA (2014) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Related Disorders. En Caballo, VE, Salazar, IC and Carrobles, JA (2014) Manual of Psychopathology and Psychological Disorders. Madrid: Pyramid.
- American Psychiatric Association (2014). DSM-5. Reference guide to the diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5-Breviary. Madrid: Panamericana Medical Editorial.
- World Health Organization (WHO) (2018) International Classification of Diseases, 11th revision. Recovered from https://icd.who.int/es