The more traumatic events one experiences, the higher severity of hoarding symptoms people may develop. This is not the same for OCD. This unique finding should be considered in therapy settings when addressing hoarding behavior.

Grand Valley State University

There is no significant difference in the amount of trauma those with OCD, hoarding disorder, or a combination of both experienced before they developed their symptoms. However, it is essential to note that the severity of hoarding was impacted by the amount of past traumatic experiences.

Traumatic Events Before OCD or Hoarding Symptom Development

Przeworski, A., Cain, N., & Dunbeck, K. (2014). Traumatic life events in individuals with hoarding symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and comorbid obsessive-compulsive and hoarding symptoms. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 3(1), 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2013.12.002

References for the Link Between Traumatic Events and OCD/Hoarding Symptoms

1. People who have both OCD and hoarding disorder symptoms are associated with a higher rate of experiencing sexual assault before they develop symptoms compared to those who only have OCD.
2. People who have hoarding disorder symptoms only are associated with a higher rate of transportation accidents and have a trend for increased rates of physical assault trauma (though not significant findings) before symptom development compared to those with OCD only.

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