Hoarding Disorder: A Simulation

The second unit of Disease was a pretty filled one, focusing on mental disorders this time around. Disease is a class where we learn about diseases that affect people in some way; usually a negative one.  I searched for a mental disease that I had interest in researching, and I came across a few that I liked, such as Kleptomania, and Narcolepsy. I ended up deciding on Hoarding disorder; a disorder that is estimated to affect 5% of the U.S population. This unit was very interesting, it brought up a lot of concepts that I didn't think could be a disorder. I created multiple sources to help recognize and understand what Hoarding disorder is and how it feels. The lesson plan is what is being demonstrated in the video, so feel free to replicate my simulation at home. I hope you enjoy.

The International OCD Foundation defines Hoarding Disorder (HD) as a mental health disorder where people have difficulty getting rid of possessions that are no longer useful to them.
Signs of hoarding disorder include:

• The persistent difficulty of parting with an item 
• Discarding the hoarded items causes significant distress 
• The hoarding has accumulated and clutters living areas
• The hoarding causes significant distress

Ceci Garrett
Ceci was only a child when she had to endure living with her clutter-filled home because of her mother's endless hoarding. She is now the founder and Executive director of Lightening the Load, a ministry that helps people unclutter their homes, and helps keep relationships attached. In 2015 she held a TED talk, where she spoke about her experience with hoarding, the issues of hoarding, and her mission to improve hoarding situations. " My mom's need to save had a bigger meaning. It wasn't about stuff, it was about challenges, fear, grief, problems processing information. Decades passed before I learned that hoarding is not a house problem, it's not a stuff problem; hoarding is a mental health issue." This quote from the TED talk shows impactful hoarding can be on the person with the mental disorder and the people around them. Hoarding disorder can hurt more than one person.

The Affected Brain
The brain is a very complex system that is made up of separate parts that all perform separate functions. The prefrontal cortex is a large part of the human brain that controls executive functions like personality, complex planning, coordinating, and impulse control. When people with Hoarding Disorder go out to collect more items this is their impulse thing to do, much like OCD. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for all of that impulse control, and it tends to be a little less controlled in people with OCD or Hoarding Disorder.

Flier
I created a flier about Hoarding Disorder to help readers and others understand what hoarding disorder is and how to help lessen the symptoms of the disorder in a safe way, all references are cited at the bottom of this blog post. The flier also includes a very common myth about people with Hoarding Disorder, why the myth isn't true, and a few statistics about the disorder.

"Hoarding Disorder flier" IF 2018

Demonstration Simulation
This video of me putting two of my classmates through a simulation of Hoarding Disorder that I created, is intended to show the difficulties of having Hoarding Disorder. Over time people with Hoarding Disorder collect more and more items that build up while continuing their normal lives. I pass my classmates items as they complete a worksheet to demonstrate the collecting of those items as a hoarder. This is pretty interesting to watch, so enjoy.


Lesson Plan
View this lesson plan in order to endure the same simulation that I performed in class. The lesson plan should produce the same results as shown in the video.



Graph and A Piecewise function
In this unit, we also explored math concepts that related to the presentation/simulation of out mental disease. The first photo shows a graph of brain waves that a student would go through while participating in the simulation. The brain waves only range in the Beta and Gamma range. This is good because of Gamma and Beta waves mean they are attentive to the simulation and not near to or asleep. The second photo shows a piecewise function of this graph.

"Lesson graph" IF 2018

"Piecewise work" IF 2018

Conclusion
This was a very enjoyable unit as well as an informative one. The action project was also very enjoyable and included a lot of pieces that seemed to fit well together. Though I struggled with the completion of this action project, it did help me get a good grasp of the content learned in this class. We did have one field experience in this class, where we able to speak with a medical student who helped us understand what diagnosing and helping a person is like in the medical field. I found this to be a very neat and productive conversation, that was, once again, useful and relevant to the class. I'm glad that I had this class, and the amazing experience it brings with it.

Citations 

“How to Help a Loved One with HD.” Hoarding, 21 Apr. 2017, hoarding.iocdf.org/for-families/how-to-help-a-loved-one-with-hd/.

Parekh, Ranna. “What Is Hoarding Disorder?” What Is Hoarding Disorder?, July 2017, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/hoarding-disorder/what-is-hoarding-disorder.

“Prefrontal Cortex.” GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog, 18 Aug. 2015, www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/prefrontal-cortex.
TEDxTalks. YouTube, YouTube, 24 Nov. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0c33pemjLw.