Diogenes Syndrome - Living in Squalor - What is it? Short Documentary

Diogenes syndrome is a mental disorder in which people become socially withdrawn, neglect themselves and live in extreme squalor, usually with a total lack of concern at how they are living. They accumulate mountains of rubbish either by compulsive hoarding or by just not throwing anything away. They neglect their personal hygiene and physical health, not washing for months or years and they won’t go anywhere near a doctor. The accumulation of waste can lead to infestation by rats and other vermin, and this may finally force them into contact with public health services. The term Diogenes Syndrome was proposed in 1975 after the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope, but this is something of misnomer. It was originally described in older people - some cases have a long history of a subclinical personality disorder, others, the early signs of dementia. It can also in younger people with schizophrenia, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. References Ashworth, F., Rose, A., and Wilson, B. A. (2018). TD: The case of Diogenes Syndrome—deficit or denial? Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 28(2), 244-258. Biswas, P., Ganguly, A., Bala, S., Nag, F., Choudhary, N., and Sen, S. (2013). Diogenes syndrome: a case report. Case Reports in Dermatological Medicine, 2013. Clark, A. N. G., Mankikar, G. D., and Gray, I. (1975). Diogenes syndrome: a clinical study of gross neglect in old age. The Lancet, 305(7903), 366-368. Cybulska, E. (1998). Senile squalor: Plyushkin’s not Diogenes’ syndrome. Psychiatric Bulletin, 22(5), 319-320. Macmillan, D., and Shaw, P. (1966). Senile breakdown in standards of personal and environmental cleanliness. British Medical Journal, 2(5521), 1032. Proctor, C., and Rahman, S. (2021). Diogenes syndrome: identification and distinction from hoarding disorder. Case Reports in Psychiatry, 2021. Proctor, C., and Rahman, S. The Etiopathogenesis of Diogenes Syndrome. International Journal of Psychiatry 7(1):10-13. Video and Pictures Video clips from Crime Scene Cleaning (CC0) Pictures from Wikimedia Commons and Wellcome Foundation Copyright Disclaimer The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you. Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.