When a fire broke out in 58-year-old Sim Buay Piak’s Tampines flat last year, firefighters had to struggle to get through stacks of hoarded items that towered to the ceiling. When they finally got to Sim, it was too late to save the elderly man and he was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
In 2019, at least two other similar cases of extreme hoarding have appeared in the news. One involved another elderly man in Bedok North who was discovered among mounds of rubbish only after a neighbour complained of a strong stench.
We hear of it only seldom. Yet the hoarding behaviour may be more prevalent in Singapore than we think. In fact, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) estimates that one in 50 Singaporeans will display hoarding behaviour during their lifetime.
While it is the individuals that suffer from hoarding behaviour, there are potential ramifications for the community at large. When items clutter up at home and spill into shared corridors, they become an obstruction to neighbours, attract pests and in some cases, become a dangerous fire hazard.
Considering the potential harm caused to the individual and society, what can we do to help curb the phenomenon and how can we better support sufferers?
Spotlight on hoarding
Hoarding refers to an excessive acquisition of objects and inability to part with apparently valueless possessions. It has been classified as a pathology in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and is known to manifest with other psychiatric conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.
However, not all hoarding behaviour is pathological. As a field study conducted by Lin Sng Hock, a PhD student in Gerontology from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) shows that the factors underlying the condition are varied and complex.
Many hoarders attach ‘saving’ and ‘sentimental’ value to the items that they collect. The ‘saving’ value they attach refers to their belief that the items will one day come in useful, and hence it would be wasteful to discard them.
As for ‘sentimental’ value, items take on heavy emotional significance, making it difficult for hoarders to throw them away.
There is also evidence that ethno-cultural factors may predispose people to think and feel this way. In Chinese culture for example, the emphasis on thriftiness normalises the behaviour of holding on to items that were achieved through hardship. Additionally, socioeconomic factors also play a role. Childhood deprivation and emotional insecurity born out of difficult livelihoods can manifest in hoarding behaviours.
One of the study’s subjects, an elderly lady, regards stuffed toys – which are still wrapped in their original plastic bags – among her prized possessions. She notes that growing up in a poor family meant her mother could never afford to buy stuffed toys. Hence, the plush toys she collected has grown in emotional value.
Seniors are particularly susceptible to hoarding tendencies as ageing often causes support circles of friends and family to shrink, leaving seniors in greater social isolation.
In Lin’s study, all the interviewees were living alone and had little to no social support to speak of.
Finally, hoarding is known to be a chronic and progressive condition – life events and ageing-associated factors may introduce stressors and increase the severity of hoarding.
As clutter builds up, hoarders are more likely to experience cognitive indecisiveness – paralysing them and their ability to decide what, in their vast collection, to discard.
Community-based approach to building awareness needed
There is more than one way to treat hoarding behaviour, and much of it depends on whether it stems from an underlying mental health issue. In such cases, treating the issue can sometimes reduce the person’s hoarding tendencies. For example, psychotherapy – specifically cognitive behavioural therapy – is increasingly recognised as an effective treatment.
However, if the underlying factors of poverty and social isolation are not treated, hoarders can very easily fall