Childhood Hoarding
“Walking on Water” by Lel4nd is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Do you often see huge piles of things spread all over the place when you enter your child’s room? Receipts, plastic bags, trash, magazines, toys, clothes, etc., are all lying around, even to the extent that it can be challenging to walk around comfortably. It is typical for children to have clutter in their room, but often consistently accumulating things and resisting to let go of them can be a sign of childhood hoarding.
What is Childhood Hoarding
Hoarding is a condition where a child not only accumulates things in great excess but is also resistant or unwilling to let go of them. Even if those things have no actual value, it can be hard to get rid of them because the child has developed overpowering emotional attachments with their possessions. While hoarding itself is not a disorder and in some cases accumulating things in excess is not harmful either. Still, hoarding can indicate the presence of another underlying issue, primarily obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it can sometimes also get in the way of living everyday life.
What does hoarding look like in kids/teens
The one primary factor that differentiates childhood hoarding from regular clutter is that children who hoard, other than being extremely disorganized, develop a dependence on their things and show extreme distress when their possessions are taken away from them even when these things have no value at all. As children can’t buy most of the things on their own, they will hoard what is easily attainable or what is already given to them. This could include old clothes, broken toys, rocks, pencils, paper, foods, etc.
If your child is hoarding, things could look something like this:
- The room floor is difficult to walk on or can’t even be seen because of all the clutter.
- The closet is fully packed, and nothing can be taken in or out of it.
- The bed is full of things and is mainly used as a storage area.
- The computer table or reading desk is similarly full of unnecessary items with no use in homework or entertainment
What causes childhood hoarding
An underlying anxiety disorder is primarily responsible for children who participate in hoarding. Most of the times, children that hoard also has some close relative that shows similar patterns. It can also be due to developmental issues, mental and emotional correlations and may also be triggered due to traumatic experiences.
What treatments are available for hoarding in children
Psychotherapy is the primary treatment in which a child’s thoughts and beliefs about collecting things and holding on to them are challenged and corrected. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the most common approach that helps children develop life-lasting skills to deal with the underlying anxiety.
Therapy also involves parents and family members in the treatment. Some parents might think that allowing their children to hoard things will help them ease anxiety, but it often achieves the opposite results by making the situation worse. So, in this manner, psychotherapy helps the whole family devise a more constructive approach towards overcoming hoarding issues in children.
“it seemed like a good idea at the time” by woodleywonderworks is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Tips to help children with hoarding
If your child’s hoarding problems are letting them live everyday life, getting professional help should be your priority. Other than that, there are lots of helpful tips that can help your child be better.
- Educate yourself about childhood hoarding and learn as much as you can about this condition. This way, you can see things from their perspective and understand why it feels important for them to do what they do.
- Don’t enable this behavior by helping them collect more. While it may feel like helping, it will only make their dependence on objects more intense.
- Help them sort their belongings and appreciate small victories when they organize their rooms or put things in the right place.
- Don’t clean up for them. Helping them sort their things is a good idea but doing it for them is not.
“A cute young girl blowing dandelions.” by shixart1985 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
