Council and emergency services work together to help people suffering from 'hidden illness' of hoarding

dailyrecord.co.uk:

West Lothian Council is working with emergency and health services to look at the best ways to help hoarders, as they admitted the scale of the problem was not fully knownThe Community Safety Board heard that hoarding - where people amass unmanageable amounts of possessions or rubbish has long been identified as an issue by housing officers.While it’s become a popular staple of TV programmes, hoarding often remains unrecognised and secretive, but all consuming.

It is anxiety driven behaviour which fuels social isolation and low self esteem.It is often tied to self neglect, that is it is poor personal hygiene, dressing inappropriately or tending appropriately to medical conditions.Lorraine Donnelly, one of the council’s area housing managers delivered a presentation to the board with Fire Service officer Elaine Dowie.Mrs Donnelly, one of multi agency partners working on an action plan to tackle hoarding and self neglect, told the meeting: “Hoarding is now being recognised as a distinct mental health condition of its own.

It can have a huge impact on a person’s ability to function independently and can carry a high level of risk for themselves and others.”There are different types of hoarding.

Hoarding of inanimate objects, of animals and data, with inanimate objects being the most common.Mrs Donnelly said: “Some of the experiences I have had in the past have been where people have kept specific things like clothes, ornaments, newspapers or general clutter and household rubbish.“Hoarding can also be associated with health issues, lack of hygiene and impaired ability and this can result in fire risk damage to property and can also have a serious negative impact on the individual, their family friends and neighbours.“Hoarder