“Plyushkin Syndrome”: harmless quirk or personality disorder?

My girlfriend is kind to any rubbish. Her kitchen cabinets are filled with empty plastic jars, mixed bottles and plastic bags. Broken headphones, watches, glasses and expired cosmetics are piled in the dresser drawers. The bookshelves are piled with magazines, brochures and flyers. The wardrobe is full of outdated and worn things.

From her point of view, all this “still come in handy”, “can be repaired, adapted, worn.” From mine – unnecessary junk. At times, she laments: her hands will not reach to sort out the rubble. Once she had to leave for a long time, and I, as a close friend, looked after the apartment. And she arranged a surprise for her: she raked out everything superfluous, polished it, and then … she sincerely repented.

We did not quarrel, no, but she was upset in earnest. In essence, you can’t call her a slob: the relative order is maintained. Occasionally, she “finds” on her, and she gets rid of some of the rubbish, and sorts the rest into categories. Well-groomed, tastefully dressed, only terribly disorganized.

Each exit “to people” is a whole epic, the fees take three to four hours. She frantically rushes about in search of the right little things, in a hurry and always late. As for me, it makes life very difficult. But my friend won’t admit it.

What’s really going on

One day it dawned on me: yes, this is a typical “Plyushkin syndrome”, named after the Gogol character, who became the prototype of an inveterate hoarder. The ICD-11 classifier uses the term “hoarding” (hoarding disorder) and refers it to a subgroup of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD).

The characteristic behavior is manifested in the collection and storage of things, mostly useless. It is due to the obsessive need for the accumulation of property, excessive attachment to objects and the suffering caused by their loss.

Hoarding can be passive (for example, greeting cards and advertising spam from the mailbox) or active (given away, bought for next to nothing, found and even stolen things).

Such tendencies lead to chronic distress and significant difficulties in the personal, family, social and professional spheres.

What is dangerous “Plyushkin’s syndrome”

At first, it is mistaken for frugality, sentimentality, or creative confusion. But over time, addiction becomes rampant. “Plyushkins” genuinely suffer, parting with their “treasures”. In what is “junk” for others, they see exceptional value.

If no one interferes, the entire living space is overgrown with rubbish. A person literally has nowhere to eat, nothing to sleep on, even leaving the house is problematic. In criminal chronicles, more than once, terrible details about those buried alive under piles of garbage were covered.

So, 43-year-old widower Patrick Moore received impressive volumes of correspondence every day. Over the years, stacks of newspapers, magazines, catalogs, subscription almanacs had accumulated in his small apartment in New York, which rose from floor to ceiling and blocked the windows.

The door was opened with a crowbar, but before providing medical assistance, the rescuers dug up the poor fellow for an hour.

His “colleagues” in hobby were much less fortunate. The brothers Homer and Langley Collier for forty years carried “artifacts” to their mansion: half-decayed Christmas trees, carpentry workbenches, piano wreckage, even a disassembled car. On March 21, 1947, Homer died of exhaustion. For another eighteen days, municipal services searched for his brother, who had suffocated under mountains of junk.

The most monstrous case occurred in Sydney. In July 2017, a local supermarket worker contacted the police, concerned that a regular customer had not been shopping for groceries for a long time. In the apartment of the deceased, in addition to himself, a mummified body of a man was found. Forensic experts determined that the victim had lain under a pile of rubbish for more than ten years. Since the unsociable owner suffered from hoarding and did not communicate with anyone, no one suspected a crime.

Where does pathological passion come from?

Of course, it does not appear immediately. It does not happen that yesterday a person behaved adequately, and today he suddenly dragged a shabby rug from the garbage heap. Early signs may appear at 11–15 years of age and usually progress with age. In the last stages, it sometimes comes to the point that a person does not let anyone into the house and neglects elementary comfort.

Psychologists still consider hoarding to be a subset of OCD. However, recent research suggests that it is a disorder in its own right with a “unique signature” in neural connections. Its causes are not fully understood, but among the most likely are the following.

The illusion of prudence. Some justify the desire to hoard obsolete items with ordinary housekeeping. From stretched T-shirts you can make comfortable pillows, from a leaky sweater – a cat bed, from bottle caps – a pretty coaster for hot. Only here most of the ideas are never implemented, and the house is filled with trash.

Fear of poverty (peniaphobia). Growing up in a low-income family where every piece of bread was counted often retains disturbing habits for life. Even having achieved material well-being, such people cherish old things “for a rainy day.”

Наследственность. If someone from close relatives suffered from a similar disorder, it is very likely to manifest itself in future generations. Especially if in childhood the example was constantly before my eyes.

traumatic events. The death of loved ones, fleeing a war zone, a fire, a flood, a difficult divorce—anything that could cause a major upheaval. Commemorative photos, worn toys and souvenirs partly help to cope with the loss. Gradually, there are more and more relics that are associated with the past, and the owner is incredibly annoying when they are touched.

Is it being treated?

Most often, hoarders are smart, well-educated, and think in complex terms, says Nicholas Maltby, a clinical psychologist at the Hartford Center for Anxiety Disorders. (By the way, my friend is a historian who is excellent at building cause-and-effect relationships). His colleague Randy Frost adds that they are extraordinarily resourceful about what most people think are useless things, and can find uses for them that we would never have guessed.

“They share a common trait – extreme indecision,” says Sanjaya Saxena, professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles. – It is difficult for them to have any choice, and therefore they constantly jump from one to another. In addition, they are very verbose. Instead of just answering the question, they will certainly fill you in on the smallest details.

Such patients really enjoy the heap of things that surround them, and this is more like the pleasure of a gambler or a shopaholic.

Currently, the effect of drugs that are used in attention deficit disorder and Alzheimer’s disease is being investigated. In the meantime, the best results are obtained by cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps to analyze thoughts and learn three behaviors: why organize a space, when to acquire things, and, most importantly, how to throw out old ones in a timely manner.

After all, the problem is not solved by forced cleaning. Without systemic treatment, Plyushkin will acquire new treasures very soon.