title: Recent advances in compulsive hoarding.
abstract: Compulsive hoarding is a common and often disabling neuropsychiatric disorder. This article reviews the conceptualization, phenomenology, diagnosis, etiology, neurobiology, and treatment of compulsive hoarding. Compulsive hoarding is part of a discrete clinical syndrome that includes difficulty discarding, urges to save, excessive acquisition, indecisiveness, perfectionism, procrastination, disorganization, and avoidance. It was thought to be part of obsessive-compulsive disorder or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, but recent evidence indicates that it should be classified as a separate disorder with its own diagnostic criteria. Compulsive hoarding is a genetically discrete, strongly heritable phenotype. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies are elucidating its neurobiology, implicating dysfunction of ventral and medial prefrontal cortical areas that mediate decision-making, attention, and emotional regulation. Effective treatments include pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. More research will be required to determine the prevalence, etiology, and pathophysiology of compulsive hoarding and to develop better treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, 8950 Villa La Jolla Village Drive, Suite C-207, San Diego, CA 92037, USA. ssaxena@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Sanjaya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saxena
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002883:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14 / Q000235:genetics; D002892:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 / Q000235:genetics; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods; D005502:Food; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose; D017374:Paroxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors