Yesterday I watched a program on A&E named “Hoarding”. It was the story of two cases of hoarding and the intervention which took place when the situations became acutely critical. The first case was a young couple with several children who were in danger of losing their children to Child Protective Services and the second was a 60 year old woman who was going to be evicted from her home. Although I have seen a few photos of homes of hoarders this was just so bad that at times it just about made me feel queasy watching it. The woman hoarded food and stocked up on everything including perishables which then rotted. Bags of dripping, slimy lettuce were on the floor along with totally rotted apples, pumpkins, etc. Her refrigerated food was sometimes years past expiration date. The couple had no floor space or open surfaces in their home because of all the clutter and clothing on the floor. The family ate with plates balanced on their laps on a bed because there was no other space. In this case the woman was a compulsive shopper and the husband was a hoarder. A behaviour specialist and removal service were called in to both places and with a lot of difficulty removed a lot of filthy unsanitary food and clutter but the prognosis was mixed. The 60 year old woman was especially resistant and was referred to mental health counseling because often within a year after a clean out the situation returns as the underlying cause is not treated. The show really did do a fairly good job in explaining that it was a mental disorder that these people suffered from and how difficult it was to overcome. After watching the show I immediately felt the need to find something to throw out and I am someone who tends to throw out everything. There is another episode on Friday which I will try to watch. If anyone needs an incentive to clear out clutter watching these shows certainly provides it. I have only known one woman who was known to be a hoarder but she never let anyone into her residence so never saw it. I remember her bringing in food to a food drive that was so old the packages did not have bar codes. Do you know anyone like this?
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Comments: 13
she is classic hoarder all the way and it's way past ridiculous
someone called child services ( my oldest and her 5 children are living with my mom)
they were given until today to get a lot of the clutter out of the house......child services is supposed to be providing a dumpster. I've been over there every day for the past 3 days and mom is still fighting thinking she needs to keep everything!!!!!!
Sometimes, I have suspected our young adult kids, who live on their own; all but one now has figured out that cleanliness and order are soothing to the spiriit!
I was once reading that people who have a cluttered mind, but can keep it in check will turn the focus to something outside of their mind- like hoarding or keeping a messy house.
In my case I basically grew up without my father because he was(is) schizophrenic. When I was a baby he tried to kidnap me, breaking into our house (literally breaking down the front door with a kick) and over the years has done a lot of outrageous things that were sometimes directed at me. My mom was worried that I was being affected by this but when I had evaluations the doctors said I was fine mentally.
Unfortunately most people don't make the connection between the child who cannot keep their room clean and holds onto everything with what is going on in their life. I would almost bet my life that growing up like this is what caused it. Since nothing was ever really resolved and my father still does things that really bother me I haven't been able to get over it.
I am sure that if I could ever get real help (not just shoving some drugs in my face, patting me on the back and saying "off you go") I think I could fix my problem. I don't want to be a messy person! I really truely don't. But try to come in here and just throw everything out all at once and I seriously think I would have a total breakdown from it. I saw an episode on Dr. Phil about it and he said the same thing- it would be like turning your entire life upside down all at once.