Peace of Mind Organizing

ICD's newly revised Clutter-Hoarding Scale is out

11 July 2011

In 2004, the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (now the Institute for Challenging Disorganization) issued the landmark Clutter Hoarding Scale, an assessment tool that identified five different levels of cluttering and hoarding. It can be used for organizers (or clients) who want to get an objective view of the state of a home. As conditions improve, it can also serve as a measuring tool.

The scale ranged from Level I, a sort of ordinary level of imperfection, to Level 5, a full-blown virtually uninhabitable hoarder’s home. The document recommends that at Level 3, specialized, collaborative help is needed.

On the television hoarding shows like, A&E’s Hoarders, you’ll occasionally hear someone refer to a Level 5. This is where that came from.

I’m really excited to report that the ICD has issued a newly revised Clutter-Hoarding Scale. This one also has five levels, and has added a Personal Protective Equipment category to indicate what sort of precautionary equipment a professional (or anyone) should use when working in each level. The larger format allows for expanded explanatory text.

In addition, the new Clutter-Hoarding Scale incorporates the use of color (the original had only black-and-white text), adding alert colors for each level.

Interested in taking a look for yourself? The ICD Clutter-Hoarding Scale is available as a free download. Simply go to the CHS page on the ICD website to download.

Tagged with: clutter, hoarding, icd, nsgcd

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