Behind Closed Doors: The Reality of Hoarding Among Seniors

When my husband’s uncle died, his house was filled with shirts and handkerchiefs still in boxes and never used. To this day, my husband wears one of these “gifted” shirts in a pink-striped madras pattern. It is Brooks Brothers, and I suspect it is from the 1960s.

There were also numerous purses that my husband’s aunt (married to his uncle) left when she died several years earlier. They had never been cleared out. The real clincher, though, was the cash found in a storeroom near the garage. It wasn’t hundreds of thousands of dollars but rather tens of thousands of dollars. One wonders why it was left in a place so accessible to outsiders.

All of this that my husband’s uncle had lovingly accumulated was unexpected. Rather than welcoming it, however, we wondered what to do with it (except the cash, of course). Someone had to clear this out. There was too much in too little space, so the booty looked like junk—which, in fact, much of it was.

My husband's uncle was in his 70s when he died. Although he was fastidious when younger, this “saving for tomorrow" appears to have either started in older age or was an earlier tendency that worsened. He is not alone.

Hoarding Incidence Increases With Each Decade of Life

In a 2010 study of 18 adults over 60, C. R. Ayers et al. (2010) measured neuropsychiatric parameters using different testing approaches along with psychological and medical histories. The subjects themselves were asked to rate their hoarding symptoms and list events that had occurred in each decade of their lives.

In this study, though the sample was small, hoarding symptoms were initially reported to begin in midlife, yet there were indications of it as early as childhood or adolescence. The incidence of hoarding increased with each decade of life. Mood and anxiety disorders were common among hoarders, but only if hoarding symptoms were counted toward the diagnosis. Usually, these older adults with hoarding disorder did not receive treatment. They were normally socially impaired and living alone.

The latter would certainly apply to my husband’s uncle’s situation. After his wife of 40-some years died, he had been alone and was not, by nature, a social man. His spouse had done most of the socializing and talking. This seemed to suit him.

Off the Deep End—Diogenes Syndrome

Though affected by the need to hold “near and dear” excessively, older individuals who simply keep much more than they need do not occupy the far end of the hoarding spectrum, where a disorder called Diogenes syndrome sits. Those afflicted in this way live in “rubbish, rotting food, and debris,” including urine and feces. Further, they are indifferent to their living conditions, though they would be horrific to the rest of us. Psychiatric and somatic disorders are associated with this syndrome.

Summary

Hoarding occurs on a spectrum like so many other syndromes. It can be minor, as was the case with my husband’s uncle, or severe, as with Diogenes syndrome. It is the latter that we most often hear about in the news, while the former seems to go unreported. It might be known by word of mouth, but few to no formal descriptions are made. as it is nearly, though not quite, normal. The important thing to me, which is why I include it here, is that the incidence increases with age. Almost certainly, hoarding behavior could happen to any of us if we are alone, socially isolated, and left with little to no social support. In fact, some who read this article may recognize it in existing relatives. When recognized, it could be considered a red flag to those who care about these individuals and would like to help with socialization opportunities, which could attenuate the need for such buying activities.