Exploring experiences of forced clearances in people with hoarding difficulties

People with Hoarding Disorder (PWHD) can experience enforced removal of their possessions by others, often with the intention of trying to improve an individual's situation. To date, there has been no research exploring PWHD's experiences of this. The study qualitatively explored people's experiences of forced clearances within the context of HD.

Nine participants meeting DSM-5 criteria for HD completed a semi-structured interview about their experience of forced clearances; this included a description of the clearance, impact upon self and hoarding behaviours and recommendations on what improved support could look like. Participants also completed questionnaires measuring hoarding severity and distress caused by a forced clearance.

Three themes and six subthemes were generated: (1) Power Imbalance (subthemes: Criminalisation of Mental Health Difficulties; Clearance as the Lesser of Two Evils); (2) The Trauma of Clearance (subthemes: Losing Belongings is Like Losing Myself; 'Trauma on top of Trauma'); (3) Picking Up the Pieces (subthemes: Clearance Weighs Heavily on the Mind; Replacing the Shield). Participant recommendations included the importance of early intervention, the need to build trust and seeing the person behind the belongings. Most scores on the measure of distress were high, consistent with participant reports that the event was typically a traumatic experience.

Findings suggest that forced clearances are a traumatic experience with a long-lasting impact for PWHD. The study has theoretical implications for how traumatic events are defined in the context of HD and clinical implications for how to support PWHD and their experience of forced clearances.