UBC researchers looking for ‘clutter-bugs’

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Calling all clutter-bugs and obsessive collectors!

UBC could use you in new research into hoarding.

Over the next year, subjects will be invited to participate in a study, designed to unlock the thinking patterns that get in the way of decision-making and organizing, when it comes to the accumulation of stuff in the home.

“So people come in and we present them with something that looks like a game. We ask them to solve the problems associated with that game. Each of them has a different kind of thinking required to do well in that game,” says psychology professor Sheila Woody.

“We are looking at things like planning, prioritizing and organizing – what we call executive functions of the brain,” she adds.

Woody says up to five per cent of the population has hoarding disorder. While some people might have a hard time admitting they have the condition, others might admit they are clutter-bugs or have a passion for collecting.

She points out hoarding can be life-threatening if the accumulation of stuff contributes to a fire hazard, or if the piles of junk prohibit firefighters from getting in the home, in the event of a fire.

Improving the lives of hoarders is the study’s aim.

“Once we understand thinking patterns that are getting in the way, then we can develop treatments to address them. If we don’t understand them, it’s difficult to be targeted in our treatment,” says Woody.

People living in Vancouver who want immediate help for themselves or someone they know can call 311 and a team, consisting of a fire prevention officer and a psychiatric nurse, will visit their home.

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