PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kenneth J. Weiss
TI  - Hoarding, Hermitage, and the Law: Why We Love the Collyer Brothers
DP  - 2010 Jun 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 251--257
VI  - 38
IP  - 2
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/251.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/251.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2010 Jun 01; 38
AB  - Interest in hoarding behavior has intensified, as it works its way through DSM-V deliberations and treatment models. Meanwhile, both documentarians and fiction writers have embraced accounts of individuals with disposophobia and romanticized versions of the Collyer brothers, the Hermits of Harlem. In this article, I examine the range of media and professional attention given to hoarders and their problems and then focus on a potential role for forensic mental health professionals. The psycholegal problems of hoarders include health and zoning code violations that evolve into criminal charges, civil commitment, questions of animal cruelty, landlord-tenant disputes, divorce and custody evaluations, testamentary capacity, and child-neglect charges.