The ARU Possessions and Hoarding Collective
The ARU Possessions and Hoarding Collective (PoHoc) is a group of academics and professionals who aim to improve understanding of how people interact with their possessions.
Many individuals report complex relationships with their possessions, including acquiring too many and trouble with organising them, leading to clutter and difficulties discarding them. At times, such behaviours can become excessive, resulting in problems in everyday life and even hoarding disorder, which is a mental health condition.
As part of our activities, we research hoarding and how can it affect individuals and their wider surroundings and family members. We are also interested in how service provision is currently delivered, and how it can be improved.
Contact us at [email protected]
PoHoC is part of the UK Hoarding Research Network and the UK Hoarding Partnership.
- Dr Sharon Morein
- Dr Jane Scott
- Dr Emma Kaminskiy
- Vanessa Ferguson
- Dr Sanjiv Ahluwalia
- Dr Debora Sa
- Inbal Leitner
- Enes Kartal (PhD student)
- Stuart Brown (external)
- Dr Keong Yap (external)
- That Hoarder (external advisor with lived experience)
Morein-Zamir, S. and Ahluwalia, S. (2023) 'Hoarding Disorder: evidence and best practice in primary care', British Journal of General Practice, 73(729), pp. 182-183. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp23X732513
Morein-Zamir, S., Kasese, M., Chamberlain, S. R. and Trachtenberg, E. (2022) 'Elevated levels of hoarding in ADHD: a special link with inattention', Journal of Psychiatric Research, 145, pp. 167-174. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.12.024
Cambridge Festival, April 2024
The Hoarding and Possessions Collective ran interactive and educational activities exploring the science of clutter and messy bedrooms at the Cambridge Festival in April 2024. Participants learnt how to be more organised and explored some of the reasons why we don’t like to throw things away. Activities included categorising a drawerful of toys to demonstrate the skills needed when tidying up, and adding to a collage of the items that visitors would never want to throw away.
You’re not a hoarder, so why do you have so much clutter?, The Telegraph, April 2024.
Sixth form students from Bedford College were introduced to hoarding disorder during a taster talk by Dr Jane Scott in June 2023.'
Sixth form students from Bedford College were introduced to hoarding disorder during a taster talk by Dr Jane Scott, when they visited the ARU campus in June. The talk explored our relationships with possessions and discussed ways in which the same types of relationships can explain the struggles with excessive clutter and difficulties discarding characteristic of hoarding disorder. The students also trialled and provided feedback on a prototype measure of clutter in emerging adults.
Cambridge Wellness Festival, September 2023
New guidelines help GPs diagnose hoarding as a mental health condition - are you at risk?, The Sun, May 2023
ARU Hoarding Conference, Cambridge campus, May 2023
Cambridge Festival, April 2023
Are YOU a secret hoarder? Psychologist reveals the three tell-tale signs to watch out for, Daily Mail, March 2023.
Hoarding: people with ADHD are more likely to have problems – new research, The Conversation, February 2022.
What is the link between hoarding and ADHD?, The British Academy Virtual Summer Showcase: My research in three minutes, June 2020.
We are looking to hear from people with experience of hoarding or who have been affected by it. If you would like to get involved by helping us improve our plans and projects or by participating in our research and activities, please get in touch, [email protected].