WJ #9

The specific question I plan to answer in my research paper is why do people, hoarders, feel the need to keep the many items acquire and what effect does it have on the person. In my opinion I believe these people who hoard their possessions feel that the items are placeholders for something that is now gone within their lives or the  items are basically taking the place of something or someone. As of now I know hoarders do not realize that they have a problem. they do understand that they have a house filled with stuff and that it has, in some occasions, costed them to become embarrassed and to some extent eliminated them from having a social life. Many people who hoard do not allow outsiders in their homes. Hoarders are very protective of all of their items even things that may be broken, and they have a general idea of where everything is in their homes, even if everything is pilled up. I still need to know what the onset action or motivation is that makes people want to hold on to so many things. I also still need to know what this is caused by or linked to. Arguments that would oppose my view could include: hoarding is not the reason for the hoarder's lack of social life, the items could have special meaning to the person. I have looked at at three articles: "Compulsive Hoarding", "Family Informants' Perceptions of Insight in Compulsive Hoarding", "Elucidating the Relation of Hoarding to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Impulse Control Disorders". A case study "Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding". A novel "Collecting and Hoarding Things. and the television show 'Hoarders'.