What is disposophobia?
In Bursa, 68-year-old Feyzullah Yasa, who resisted municipal cleaning teams arriving to clear out his home that had turned into a 'trash house' by brandishing a knife, stabbed police officer T.K. in the arm as the officer tried to persuade him. Trash houses have been frequently in the news lately. So, what is this 'hoarding disorder' known as disposophobia?
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Teams from the Osmangazi Municipality Cleaning Affairs Directorate arrived at an address on Ürünlü Street in the Tayakadın neighborhood of Bursa's central Osmangazi district today around 11:00 AM after receiving a report of a 'trash house'.
Homeowner Feyzullah Yasa, who is alleged to have psychological issues, saw the municipal teams and threatened them with a knife he had picked up, refusing to let them inside. Upon the teams' report that they could not enter the building, police were dispatched to the scene. Yasa stabbed police officer T.H. in the arm as the officer was attempting to open the door.
While reinforcement teams were dispatched to the area, the injured police officer was taken to Bursa Yüksek İhtisas Training and Research Hospital for treatment following initial intervention by medical teams.
Police teams attempted to neutralize Feyzullah Yasa, who continued to resist, by spraying pepper spray through a broken window. Yasa came outside with the knife in his hand and attacked the teams again. Yasa was apprehended after the knife fell from his hand and was taken to Çekirge State Hospital as a precaution. An investigation into the incident has been launched.
WHAT IS THIS DISPOSOPHOBIA
Following the incident, 'hoarding disorder' has come to the agenda once again.
Expired newspapers, magazines, empty bottles, all kinds of plastic items, bags, packaging, old clothes, broken items…
If you have difficulty throwing away things that should normally be discarded, or even fill your home with them and cannot stop yourself, you may be suffering from 'disposophobia'.
Compulsive hoarding disorder, hoarding disorder, disposophobia, or by another name, hoarding syndrome, is a condition where, regardless of the value of the items owned, all unhealthy or even unused belongings are not disposed of under the pretext of need, with the thought that they might be useful one day in the future…
According to experts, for a person to be defined as a 'hoarder', they must accumulate all unnecessary items—which we would describe as trash—to such an extent that it restricts their living space, and they must be unable to let go of them.
Various sources state that hoarding disorder is seen at a rate of 3 percent in Turkey and 6 percent globally.