Compulsive hoarding can be recognized if certain factors are identified.
Criteria for compulsive hoarding:
(1) The person has accumulated an extreme amount of items much of which has no or little value.
(2) The person is unwilling or unable to discard anything, even things that should be discarded.
(3) The occupant is unwilling or unable to organize the items which are often jumbled together,
(4) All or most of the available space in a residence are filled with so much material that the space can no longer be used as intended.
(5) There is so much material accumulated that activities of daily living are compromised.
Differential diagnosis:
(1) a large collection that is organized and which has some value
(2) a person who is lazy about housework
