Treatment for compulsive hoarding shown by clinical trial

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Paroxetine can improve symptoms of compulsive hoarding, according to a new study.
Compulsive hoarding syndrome is closely linked to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), although it is not clear if it is a subtype of this mental health problem or a separate disease. It involves excessive acquisition - maybe through shopping sprees - a failure to throw away useless items and a tendency to accumulate clutter, to the extent that the individual's home may become uninhabitable. The compulsive hoarder is driven by anxiety and may also suffer from anorexia, dementia or other mental illness.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like paroxetine have been found useful in treating OCD. In a new study, researchers at the OCD Program at the University of California, San Diego, report on a trial of paroxetine in a group of 79 patients with OCD which included hoarders and non-hoarders. Both groups showed significant improvement in their condition on paroxetine. The group has also been carrying out brain imaging studies and has found some significant changes in the frontal lobes of those with hoarding syndrome.

Source
Journal of Psychiatric Research online 24th October 2006

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