Hoarding and Animal Hoarding: Psychodynamic and Transitional Aspects.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychoanalysis
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Hoarding disorder is a complex condition with biopsychosocial underpinnings.
• It shares features with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) but possesses unique characteristics.
• Its prevalence may be linked to evolutionary resource-gathering behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the psychodynamic aspects of hoarding disorder, a less-examined area.
• To understand hoarding through the lens of psychoanalytic theory, particularly Freudian concepts.
• To investigate the role of object loss and transitional phenomena in hoarding behavior.

Main Methods:

• Psychoanalytic theory application, including Freudian concepts and object-relations theory.
• Examination of hoarding through developmental stages, specifically the anal stage.
• Analysis of hoarding of inanimate and animate objects as transitional phenomena.

Main Results:

• Hoarding can be understood in relation to the anal stage of psychosexual development.
• Loss of a loved object, particularly the mother, is a significant factor in adult hoarding.
• Both inanimate and animal hoarding involve transitional phenomena and repetition compulsion.

Conclusions:

• Psychodynamic factors, including early object loss and transitional phenomena, are key to understanding hoarding.
• Psychoanalytic insights into hoarding are vital for establishing therapeutic transference.
• Addressing these psychodynamic elements can lead to improved treatment outcomes for hoarding disorder.