Diogenes Syndrome

As Diogenes or littering syndrome , rare as Syllogomanie (from Greek συλλογή "collection" and " mania ") is a complex mental disorder called, the first by a neglect of one's own appearance (body care), the living area, social withdrawal and rejection characterized by help from others. Not all those affected are ashamed of this situation, and garbage does not always accumulate in the home.

Naming

Diogenes of Sinope

The disorder described in the USA as Diogenes syndrome since the early 1970s was first taken up in 1985 in Germany by the Hamburg doctor and psychoanalyst Peter Dettmering as "litter syndrome" and typologically divided.

The naming of the litter syndrome after Diogenes von Sinope (around 391 / 399–323 BC) is problematic insofar as the Cynical philosopher cannot prove such symptoms. He is only known for his lack of needs and his skeptical attitude towards social conventions and the achievements of civilization.

The differentiation from the so-called messie syndrome is technically controversial. Some see the differences less in the consequences and the type of abnormalities of those affected than in the fact that those affected by older age (and mostly women) are more likely to talk about Diogenes' syndrome. Others make a very sharp distinction instead and define the messie syndrome ( English compulsive hoarding ) via symptoms of hoarding and procrastination, but usually without "littering" phenomena.

"Whether it is the 'messiness' and the litter syndrome are the same or just two phenomena with some overlaps and points of contact is disputed among experts."

- Volker Faust

Symptoms

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The diagnosis of litter syndrome is limited to those extreme cases in which the deficits in the ability to keep one's own apartment tidy reach such an extent that more or less the entire apartment of the person concerned is filled with rubbish and worthless objects or is “growing over” “Because nothing is thrown away anymore. People who suffer from litter syndrome have lost the ability to emotionally recognize worthless objects as such and to part with them. Rather, they hoard almost everything that gets into the apartment without distinction, mostly with the intention of cleaning up at some point. However, they fail to do this.

Such cases make it possible for the authorities to intervene only if there is an objective assessment of a danger to others or to oneself , for example if hospitalization also makes it clear to the person concerned that adequate self-care has become impossible without accepting help and a basis of trust in professionally experienced practitioners and supporters could be built. This is the only way to really relieve those affected, who can thus be freed from a situation that is usually difficult for them.

A medically significant consequence can be that the toenails grow so far and curve towards the sole of the foot that walking is no longer possible. Since the accumulated garbage attracts flies, the risk of myiasis is increased in combination with poor personal hygiene .

A wide variety of deficiencies can be demonstrated in laboratory medicine : iron deficiency through to iron deficiency anemia , folic acid , vitamin B ₁₂ , vitamin D , protein and albumin deficiency , hypokalaemia and dehydration .

causes

The mental disorders potentially underlying Diogenes' syndrome are manifold. It can be a disorder of the executive functions in the context of an addictive disease , obsessive-compulsive disease , depression , personality disorder or other mental illness . Dementia , schizophrenia and the Prader-Willi syndrome should be mentioned here.

therapy

Basically, the therapy depends on the underlying disease or disorder. In cases of forced or impulse noise to offer u. a. a cognitive behavioral therapy on. Those patients who have dementia-related frontal brain symptoms are less likely to benefit from it.

Others

In his novel Homer & Langley, the writer EL Doctorow (* 1931) describes the true story of two brothers who perished in a rubbish New York villa in 1947.

literature

• Andrés Herrán; José Luis Vázquez-Barquero: Treatment of Diogenes syndrome with risperidone. In: Aging, neuropsychology, and cognition , 6, 1999, pp. 96-98.
• Werner Hofmann: The Diogenes Syndrome. Life between all kinds of odds and ends. In: Geriatrie-Praxis 4 (1992), pp. 59-60.
• Manuel Montero-Odasso; Marcelo Schapira; Gustavo Duque: Is collectionism a diagnostik clue for diogenes syndrome? In: International journal of geriatric psychiatry , 20, 2005, pp. 709-711.
• Burton V. Reifler: Diogenes syndrome. Of omelettes and souffles. In: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society , 44, 1996, pp. 1484-1485.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ CA. Reyes-Ortiz: Diogenes syndrome: the self-neglect elderly . In: Compr Ther. , 2001, PMID 11430258
2. ^ AN Clark et al .: Diogenes syndrome. A clinical study of gross neglect in old age . In: Lancet , 1975, PMID 46514
3. ↑ Messiendrom - Lecture 23.09.2014 (PDF; 118 kB) smt-frankfurt.de, pp. 2–3; accessed on October 3, 2016
4. ↑ Verena Theißen, Barbara Bojack: Messie Syndrome - Disorganization Problem . ( Memento of February 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 144 kB) p. 5; accessed on October 3, 2016.
5. ↑ Veronika Schröter: Messie Worlds . 1st edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-608-89183-6 .
6. ↑ Volker Faust: Lonely under garbage . Working Group on Psychosocial Health.
7. ↑ Arnd Barocka , Dietmar Seehuber, Dieter Schone: The apartment as a garbage dump . ( Memento of December 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 138 kB) In: MMW - Advances in Medicine , No. 45, 2004
8. ↑ O Beauchet et al .: Diogenes syndrome in the elderly: clinical form of frontal dysfunction? Report of 4 cases . In: Rev Med Interne , 2002, PMID 11876055
9. ↑ Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2011

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !