Do you hoard?

Psychiatrist: "Do you hoard?"

Patient: disheartened stare, followed by a deep sigh, then says "I have a few collections, but..."

This is a conversation I have approximately once a month. It’s kind of funny that so many people respond the same way to this question, if we've had this conversation, I'm not outing you, almost everyone responds the same way! When this happens, both myself and the patient know I’ve hit the nail on the head. Hoarding is such a fascinating problem. Venlafaxine may help a little apparently. For most patients that hoard, I've needed to add an antidepressant of some type. You can see hoarding with all kinds of mental health issues (OCD, ADHD, psychosis, TBI, substance use disorders), but you can also see it on its own. It does often run in families. Usually there’s multiple hoarders or collectors with a few compulsive cleaners (throwing away things) in a family.