Oxford Handbook of Hoarding and Acquiring

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 mildto 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 sectionsin 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, diagnosticchallenges, 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.

"As hoarding has become recognized as a disorder, there is a need for books exclusively focused on this problem. None had existed until now. Moreover, there is a growing body of research on hoarding that needed to be synthesized for the purpose of making advances in clinical and research work. This is an important resource. The topics are diverse and cover the broad range of areas associated with hoarding. As there are no other scholarly books on hoarding like this one, the material is original. The editors are the world experts on hoarding, and this handbook is terrific." -Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Chair of Psychology, University of North Carolina, and President, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies"With the publication of DSM-5, there are many professionals newly introduced to Hoarding Disorder. Although the concept and its symptoms are not new, clinicians and researchers now need to understand this condition in a more specific and systematic way. It is a relatively common problem (perhaps as reflected by the number of popular television programs that depict people who hoard) that only has been targeted in the scholarly literature for the past 20 years or so. During that time, there has been a substantial increase in attention paid to this condition and the resultant empirical literature is growing rapidly. It's efficient to contain all of this information within a single title, and this handbook likely will become the resource on the subject of hoarding and acquisition." -Kevin D. Wu, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Northern Illinois University"The book is easy to read, with uniformly organized chapters, and contains numerous tables, which help clarify the content. This is a good comprehensive, practical book on hoarding, written by an international collection of authors." --Gary B Kaniuk, Doody's Health Sciences Book Review

Dr. Randy O. Frost is the Harold & Elsa Siipola Israel Professor of Psychology at Smith College. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in innovation, treatment, and research in the field of hoarding and cluttering by the Mental Health Association of San Francisco. Dr. Gail Steketee is Dean and Professor at the Boston University School of Social Work, and a member of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Her scholarly work has focused on developing and testing treatments for obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders, and especially hoarding. Both Dr. Frost and Dr. Steketee received the Outstanding Career Achievement Award from the International Association for Obsessive Compulsive Disorders.