Hoarders

Hoarding….What is it all About?

Did any of you watch the new show on A&E (Mondays at 10pm est).  It is called appropriately enough…”Hoarders”.
It gives the real life picture of what a hoarding house looks like….the thought process that the hoarders go through and their reasoning in why they “need” to keep their “stuff” and how they get rid of it…or do not get rid of it.  This is real life (from what I can tell) and shows the real emotions of these people. They get very anxious when people try to throw their things away if they have not made the decision themselves.

Hoarding. This is an Emotional Problem

This is an emotional problem.  There needs to be a psych. Dr. involved and helping to treat the person for the changes to stay in effect.

The picture above is a garage.  If you will notice that the boxes almost touch the garage door hardware on the ceiling….yes that is the ceiling! This is a woman I worked with last year. She is a hoarder…and knows it. She has books on organizing and is determined to get out of the mess she is in.  She has a very limited budget ….a disabled husband, and no real help.  She wants to move into a 600 sq ft house that her son (deceased) used to live in. Her house is a 4 bedroom home with basement and garage full. It would be cool for her to be on a show like that and get the physical help she needs.

But I love hearing what these people are saying….because I feel like I have heard most of it out of the mouth of my client.  They have a reason for each thing they have and have a hard time giving it up.

Hoarding is a serious emotional issue…it is not just lazy people.  Would love for you to see the Chaotic Kitten of Dehoarding Diary.  She is a hoarder who is decluttering her house and blogging on it. She has before and after photos. Love her and so proud of her.

You also might be interested in these pasts posts of mine:

What if I’m a Hoarder? What do I do?

Hoarding

Dehoarding Diary Works it Out