Hoarding Memory

Hoarding Memory looks at the ways the stories of the Algerian War (1954–62) have proliferated among the former French citizens of Algeria. By engaging hoarding as a model, Amy L. Hubbell demonstrates the simultaneously productive and destructive nature of clinging to memory. These memories present massive amounts of material, akin to the stored objects in a hoarder’s house. Through analysis of fiction, autobiography, art, and history that extensively use collecting, layering, and repetition to address painful war memories, Hubbell shows trauma can be hidden within its own representation. Hoarding Memory dedicates chapters to specific authors and artists who use this hoarding technique: Marie Cardinal, Leïla Sebbar, and Benjamin Stora in writing and Nicole Guiraud and Patrick Altes in art. All were born in Algeria during colonial French rule but in vastly different contexts; each suffered personal or inherited trauma from racism, physical or psychological abuse, terrorist or other violent acts of war, and exile in France. Zineb Sedira’s artwork is also included as an example of traumatic memory inherited from her parents. Ultimately this book shows how traumatic experience can be conveyed in a seemingly open account that is compounded and compacted by the volume of words, images, and other memorial debris that testify to the pain.

Hoarding Memory looks at the ways the stories of the Algerian War (1954-62) have proliferated among the former French citizens of Algeria. By engaging hoarding as a model, Amy L. Hubbell demonstrates the simultaneously productive and destructive nature of clinging to memory. These memories present massive amounts of material, akin to the stored objects in a hoarder's house. Through analysis of fiction, autobiography, art, and history that extensively use collecting, layering, and repetition to address painful war memories, Hubbell shows trauma can be hidden within its own representation. Hoarding Memory dedicates chapters to specific authors and artists who use this hoarding technique: Marie Cardinal, Leïla Sebbar, and Benjamin Stora in writing and Nicole Guiraud and Patrick Altes in art. All were born in Algeria during colonial French rule but in vastly different contexts; each suffered personal or inherited trauma from racism, physical or psychological abuse, terrorist or other violent acts of war, and exile in France. Zineb Sedira's artwork is also included as an example of traumatic memory inherited from her parents. Ultimately this book shows how traumatic experience can be conveyed in a seemingly open account that is compounded and compacted by the volume of words, images, and other memorial debris that testify to the pain.

Hoarding involves the acquisition of and inability to discard large numbers of possessions that clutter the living area of the person collecting them. It becomes a disorder when the behavior causes significant distress or interferes with functioning. Hoarding can interfere with activities of daily living (such as being able to sit in chairs or sleep in a bed), work efficiency, family relationships, as well as health and safety. Hoarding behavior can range from mild to life-threatening. Epidemiological findings suggest that hoarding occurs in 2-6% of the adult population, making it two to three times more common than obsessive-compulsive disorder. The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) now includes Hoarding Disorder as a distinct disorder within the OCD and Related Anxiety Disorders section, creating a demand for information about it. The Oxford Handbook of Hoarding and Acquiring is the first volume to detail the empirical research on hoarding. Including contributions from all of the leading researchers in the field, this comprehensive volume is divided into four sections in addition to introductory and concluding chapters by the editors: Phenomenology, Epidemiology, and Diagnosis; Etiology; Assessment and Intervention; and Hoarding in Special Populations. The summaries of research and clinical interventions contained here clarify the emotional and behavioral features, diagnostic challenges, and nature of the treatment interventions for this new disorder. This handbook will be a critical resource for both practitioners and researchers, including psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, epidemiologists, social workers, occupational therapists, and other health and mental health professionals who encounter clients with hoarding problems in their practice and research.

Hoarding disorder is the excessive saving of objects and difficulty parting with them to a point that clutter in the home interferes with one's ability to use rooms and furnishings for their intended purpose. Hoarding: What Everyone Needs to Know demystifies this complex problem, what it looks like and why it may develop, and how it can be treated.

While not intended as a substitute for psychiatric or psychological treatment by a qualified mental health professional, this workbook helps guide readers through the steps toward controlling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Hoarding disorder, classified as one of the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in the DSM-5, presents particular challenges in therapeutic work, including treatment ambivalence and lack of insight of those affected. This evidence-based guide written by leading experts presents the latest knowledge on assessment and treatment of hoarding disorder. The reader gains a thorough grounding in the treatment of choice for hoarding – a specific form of CBT interweaved with psychoeducational, motivational, and harm-reduction approaches to enhance treatment outcome. Rich anecdotes and clinical pearls illuminate the science, and the book also includes information for special client groups, such as older individuals and those who hoard animals. Printable handouts help busy practitioners. This book is essential reading for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and practitioners who work with older populations, as well as students.

The first clinical guide to this psychiatric illness, officially recognized by the DSM in 2013. Everybody has heard the statements “she’s a pack rat” or “he’s a hoarder,” but how many of us really know what that means? Pathological hoarding was first formally conceptualized as a syndrome separate from OCD in the early 1990s, yet it wasn’t until 2013 that hoarding received formal psychiatric diagnostic criteria in the DSM. How can a mental health professional who sees clients in an office determine if hoarding is a factor in a client’s life? Here, Carol Mathews provides readers with the first-ever comprehensive clinical book on hoarding, covering every aspect of the disorder. Topics include: epidemiology and impact; screening tools and clinical interview tools for assessment; differential diagnosis and co-occurring disorders; when to suspect mild cognitive impairment and dementia; hoarding behaviors in children; how to differentiate normal keeping of items from hoarding; animal hoarding; the neurobiology of hoarding disorder; treatments, both psychopharmacological and otherwise; self-help options; and the impact of hoarding on the family.

Although the much-satirized image of a house overflowing with National Geographics and infested with cats may make us chuckle, the reality of compulsive hoarding is no laughing matter. The most common reason for evictions in the US and a significant risk factor for fatal house fires, compulsive hoarding is a treatable condition related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is characterized by the acquisition of possessions that have little or no value, which the sufferer, often referred to as the saver, has great difficulty discarding. This book, the first ever written for savers and their families, provides an overview of compulsive hoarding and how it relates to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It discusses hoarding broadly, offering readers perspectives on the physical, behavioral, and value-oriented aspects of the condition. You can use its assessment tools to help decide why you or your loved one hoards. Skill-building exercises help you determine how to beat the hoarding problem by addressing issues that often underlie compulsive saving. Even though this is fundamentally a self-help book, it contains a frank discussion about the need for professional help in some hoarding cases, how to find it, and what medications have been proven effective for savers.