title: Accumulating too much stuff: what is hoarding and what is not?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper considers the meaning of the terms hoarding, collecting and accumulation, with a focus on what is abnormal and what is not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hoarding is an adaptive behaviour. When hoarding is excessive and interferes with people's lives, it is a disorder. A central feature of hoarding disorder is accumulation of items due to unwillingness to discard them. This must be distinguished from abnormal accumulation of material caused by poor motivation or unawareness concerning the need to discard.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Professor, Sydney Medical School, Old Age Psychiatrist, Sydney Local Health District, Concord Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia jsnowdon@mail.usyd.edu.au.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snowdon
mesh_terms: D000067836:Hoarding Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans
keywords: accumulation; collecting; hoarding; squalor