In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), hoarding disorder is identified as a type of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). It is characterized as an OCD because of its symptoms. The main symptom that defines this disorder is holding on to items that do not necessarily possess value and suffering distress when one is made to discard the items. To be diagnosed with hoarding disorder, the DSM stipulates that one needs to endure distress when they are forced to part with the item that they would like to keep in their possession. This distress is a common diagnostic criterion that the disorder shares with OCD.
To aid in the diagnosis of OCD and hoarding disorder, various tools have been developed. The severity scale is one of the tools that are usually used to assess individuals with OCD. Essentially, this tool measures such issues as the frequency and resistance to the symptoms of OCD (Storch, Benito & Goodman, 2011). For hoarding disorder, activities of daily living scale is among the assessment tools. Basically, this tool seeks to establish the impact that hoarding has on the lives of individuals (Frost et al., 2013).
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To keep up with changes, the DSM is often updated. The updates usually involve the inclusion of new disorders. Hoarding disorder is among these. This disorder was added in the 5 th edition of the DSM that was published in 2013 (Kalogeraki & Michopoulos, 2017). Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive compulsive personality disorder are two conditions that are often misunderstood. While there are similarities that they share, these are two different conditions. The main similarity is that both disorders are defined by compulsions and obsessions. Those with OCPD and OCD strive for perfection and experience distress when exposed to disorder and chaos (Kilgus, Maxmen & Ward, 2016). These conditions are distinguished by the fact that OCPD presents implications for one’s social life. Individuals with OCPD obsess over certain issues that they are unable to participate in social interactions in a healthy fashion.
References
Frost, R. O., Hristova, V., Steketee, G., & Tolin, D. F. (2013). Activities of daily living scale in hoarding disorder. Journal of Obsessive Compulsive Related Disorders, 2 (2), 85-90.
Kalogeraki, L., & Michopoulos, I. (2017). Hoarding disorder in DSM 5: clinical description and cognitive approach. Psychiatriki, 28 (2), 131-141.
Kilgus, M. D., Maxmen, J. S., & Ward, N. G. (2016). Essential psychopathology & its treatment. 4 th Edition. New York: W.W. Norton.
Storch, E. A., Benito, K., & Goodman, W. (2011). Assessment scales for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neuropsychiatry, 1 (3), 243-250.
