Abstract:
In common daily exchanges, we often hear joking phrases such as: my mother is a hoarder!, my neighbor is a packrat!, or you should see my place! More often than not, they were uttered by people who had never been exposed to a behavioral phenomenon, hoarding, that carries important clinical implications and significant social consequences. For laymen and professionals alike, when one sees a true hoarder dwelling, commonly referred to as a trash house, we immediately get an innate sense that it is different from one that is merely messy and overloaded. Certainly, one does not have to be some highly trained specialist or even an experienced observer to recognize that what we see stratifying in front of us is beyond saving or collecting.
Taken from the beginning of thesis.