What is Anosognosia? 

Anosognosia is a fancy way to describe a neurological condition or symptom of the inability for someone with mental illness, to recognize their own illness. Essentially, your brain cannot recognize or process what your senses tell it – either not being aware of it or not being able to perceive it accurately. Anonsognosia is sometimes called denia deficit or lack of insight.

It is important to know that Anosognosia is not a patient being in denial, faking it or being difficult. It also isn’t a psychiatric condition or a stand-alone diagnosis.

How does Anosognosia Affect Hoarders?

Research will tell you that 1 in 50 people have hoarding disorder; some suggests as many as 1 in 20. Yet, we know that not nearly this number of people are getting help. Have you ever wondered why that is? Perhaps Anosognosia is part of our answer.

Are Hoarders Against Getting Help?

The answer is no, people with hoarding disorder do not generally avoid getting help for the same things as you and I. They see the doctor when they are sick and seek treatment just as much as anyone else might for things like anxiety, depression and relationship problems.

So then, why aren’t they seeking help for (arguably) the most serious of any of these listed – their hoarding disorder? The answer is because, many hoarders do not recognize themselves as having hoarding disorder. For this reason we know that many people with hoarding disorder do not seek treatment, refuse medications, counselling, offers to help them cultivate a safe and clean space and generally do not accept that they have hoarding disorder, or even hoarding tendencies for that matter.

Causes & Symptoms of Anosognosia

It is believed that Anosognosia has to do with the frontal lobe of the brain. When this front part of the brain isn’t operating at 100%, a person may lose – or partially lose – the ability to update his or her self-image.

Along with a severe and persistent lack of insight, you can expect someone with anosognosia to maintain that they are not ill in spite of any medical or other evidence and you can expect them to provide illogical explanations to try and ineffectively explain away what is happening.

Other Illnesses and Anosognosia 

We see anosognosia appear not only when referring to people with hoarding disorder but also people who have suffered a stroke, people with schitzophrenia, dementia, alzheimers, bipolar disorder and traumatic brain injury.

What Anosognosia Means for HALO Clients 

Knowing that Anosognosia affects many, if not all, of our clients with hoarding disorder – it is especially important for HALO to lead with empathy and understanding. Our clients may not completely understand their condition, but they do understand the concepts of safety and wellbeing – which means that they see and feel the impact of HALO’s work in their lives on many levels. Anosognosia does not change the way that we work, it is just another factor in maintaining the importance of HALO’s vision and mission for working with the clients and communities that we do.