Lesson 4 abnormal psychology Hoarding:
Jenny is being seen by a therapist because her husband has left her and relocated to another town with her children. Jenny would be categorized under the DSM-5 obsessive-compulsive-related disorder which includes hoarding. Jenny is suffering from several symptoms that would put her into this category specially suffering from a hoarding syndrome. Jenny meet all the 4’s of diagnosis; Deviance: it is abnormal to have a house overflowing with “stuff”. Distress: relationship issues, isolation. Danger: it is a fire and health hazard to have a house lived in under those circumstances. Dysfunction: Jenny is unable to carry out her duties as a mom and wife. This pattern causes the individual significant distress and may greatly impair their personal, social, occupational functioning (Comer, 2014)
The hoarding pattern developed over time for Jenny. She had some underlying issues in her childhood that could have exasperated the
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Often the patients are in denial, defensive and lack insight. It took her husband and children leaving and the convincing of her mother for her to realize that she might need help, and even then her first appointment she states” I lost my husband because my house was a mess”.
Cognitive-behavioral approach produces the most improvement. This is a long lengthy process that cannot be resolved by throwing away the clutter. Jenny had to come to terms with her disorder and discover how her thought process brought her to this point in her life. During session 1-6 they used the cognitive approach and went over the feelings, thoughts and past experiences. The next sessions were more educational to teach life skills regarding goals, organization, decluttering and lastly the clean out phase. Jenny achieved her goals and remained in therapy for added accountability that she felt she needed to stay