Module 5 Discussion: Hoarders Assignment

You will be submitting this assignment in a discussion forum so that you can read and respond to your classmates’ posts. In your initial response, you will respond to Parts 1 through 3 listed below which make up the complete assignment. For Part 4 you will respond to your classmates in regards to their assignment and responses.

PART 1: Watch a full episode from the television series “Hoarders” which can be found here: https://www.aetv.com/shows/hoarders. Include the title, episode number, and link to the episode that you chose.

PART 2: Explain how the person in the episode meets or does not meet each of the criteria for hoarding disorder that was discussed in the text. Fill in the table below which lists all of the DSM criteria for diagnosing hoarding disorder. If not enough information was given in the episode to address a particular criteria you may explain that as well.

Diagnostic Criteria State if the Criteria was Met or Not Give Specific Examples from the Person in the Episode that you Chose
Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value.
This difficulty is due to a perceived need to save the items and to the distress associated with discarding them.
The difficulty discarding possessions results in the accumulation of possessions that congest and clutter active living areas and substantially compromises their intended use. If living areas are uncluttered, it is only because of the interventions of third parties (e.g., family members, cleaners, or the authorities).
The hoarding causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (including maintaining a safe environment safe for oneself or others).
The hoarding is not attributable to another medical condition (e.g., brain injury, cerebrovascular disease, Prader-Willi syndrome).
The hoarding is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder (e.g., obsessions in obsessive-compulsive disorder, decreased energy in major depressive disorder, delusions in schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder, cognitive defects in major neurocognitive disorder, restricted interests in autism spectrum disorder).
Specify if:

  • With excessive acquisition: If difficulty discarding possessions is accompanied by excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which there is no available space. (Approximately 80 to 90 percent of individuals with hoarding disorder display this trait.)
Specify if:

  • With good or fair insight: The individual recognizes that hoarding-related beliefs and behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or excessive acquisition) are problematic.
  • With poor insight: The individual is mostly convinced that hoarding-related beliefs and behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or excessive acquisition) are not problematic despite evidence to the contrary.
  • With absent insight/delusional beliefs: The individual is completely convinced that hoarding-related beliefs and behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or excessive acquisition) are not problematic despite evidence to the contrary.

PART 3: After watching this episode, answer the following question in a paragraph of at least 250 words.  Do you believe that this series is helping to bring awareness to those who suffer from this illness or is it sensationalizing the disorder and potentially increasing the stigma? Explain your response.

PART 4: Respond in at least two separate posts to two classmates (in at least 75 words for each response). Explicitly address their responses and try to extend, complicate, or redirect their points in a substantive, knowledge-demonstrating way.

Grading Rubric

Criteria Excellent Proficient Needs Improvement Points
Part 1Provides information about watched episode Includes the title, episode number, and link to the episode that was chosen. Includes most of the required information, but is missing one piece of information. Missing two or more pieces of the required information about the chosen episode. __/2
Part 2

Assesses person for meeting the criteria of hoarding disorder

 Completes all parts of the table in complete sentences and appropriate details. There are no or few grammatical errors. Completes all parts of the table, but details may be lacking. There may be several  grammatical errors. Completion of the table may be incomplete and descriptions may be cursory. __/6
Part 3

Presents a coherent commentary on the representation of mental illness in the media

 Writes in clear, descriptive sentences with no or few grammatical errors. The paragraph is well organized and complete. Does not provide enough detail or contains several grammatical errors. Does not meet the minimum word count or is difficult to understand. __/6
Part 4

Posts at least two replies to the discussion

 Posts at least two value-adding and related comments that contribute to discussion. Includes one or more weak or off-topic comments on another post. Both posts are not value-adding and do not contribute appropriately to the discussion. __/6
Total: __/20