The world-renowned Mayo Clinic defines hoarding as a disorder in which a person has a persistent difficulty in discarding or parting with possessions, even items of no real value, because of some perceived need to save them. A person suffering from this affliction experiences extreme stress at the thought of parting with these items. Ultimately, excessive accumulation of these items occurs.
A person suffering from hoarding disorder needs support and assistance in order to address the problems that arise from the condition. In addition, support and assistance are needed to recover from hoarding for the long term. With this in mind, there are support groups, and associated resources, a person afflicted with hoarding disorder can access in San Bernardino County.
San Bernardino County Behavioral Health
A primary resource for hoarders seeking support groups and other types of support and assistance is San Bernardino County Behavioral Health. This agency maintains a variety of different types of resources for individuals laboring under hoarding disorder.
The agency can assist in accessing appropriate support groups as well as individual therapy. The agency is able to connect a person with these types of support services despite an individual’s financial resources. The resources accessible via the agency are either free of charge or available on a sliding scale based on an individual’s financial resources.
Private Practitioners
Psychology Today, the highly respected magazine that addresses a myriad of mental health issues, maintains community specific directories of mental health care professionals that offer different types of services. This includes mental health care professionals in San Bernardino that offer therapeutic and different types of support groups, including those that can be of great assistance to a hoarder.
You do need to bear in mind that these are private practitioners and they do charge a fee for participation in a support group. You can ascertain what the cost will be for group participation by reaching out directly to a particular professional.
Keep in mind that support groups specifically designed for hoarders only, offered through private practitioners, are not available in significant numbers. However, there are more generalized groups that support people with issues like OCD.
Up until 2013, hoarding disorder was considered a derivation of OCD. It was only recently that hoarding has been set apart as its own condition.
Psychology Today List of San Bernardino Support Groups
Online Directory of Local Professionals
In addition to mental health professionals that maintain different types of support groups, Psychology Today also provides a directory of practitioners that provide individual therapy and counseling to people suffering from hoarding disorder.
OCD SoCal
A comprehensive resource for hoarders, as well as family members and friends of hoarders, is OCD SoCal. The organization is an affiliate of the International OCD Foundation.
The organization provides an array of different types of materials for hoarders and their loved ones, including guidance as to where to find support groups for hoarders as well as other resources. This includes a connection to the San Bernardino Hoarding Task Force.
OCD SoCal
2514 Jamacha Road Ste 502-35
El Cajon, CA 92019
323-332-1303
www. ocdsocal.org
Addictions.com
Addictions.com is an online resource that not only provides support and resources for people with addictions but for individuals facing a myriad of mental health issues, including hoarding. The website provides city and country-specific resources, including for San Bernardino.
In addition, Addictions.com also features virtual support groups. Through these portals, a person dealing with hoarding, or nearly any other type of addiction or mental health issue imaginable, can reach out to others for support, encouragement, and suggestions.
This resource can be highly helpful to a person coming to terms with the reality that he or she may have an issue with hoarding. During these early stages, a person who hoards is not likely to venture far from home, let alone to present his or her self at a “real world” group. A virtual group provides many hoarders a safe and readily available alternative.
Addictions.com Support Groups for San Bernardino
www.san-bernardino.supportgroups.com/
Are You a Hoarder?
If you are like some people, you may wonder if the manner in which you collect and keep things might have reached the level of hoarding. Although this Are You a Hoarder? quiz is not definitive in regard to ascertaining whether you are a hoarder, the results derived from it can provide you with at least some food for thought on the subject.