Hoarders

[tantricia44]

For those who don't claim to be hoarders......Lucky you! For those who don't believe hoarding is a clinical mental condition..... Lucky You! I believe, hoarding is a genetic! My Aunt is a very good example of one, she had newspapers piled up in her bath tube up the ceiling & when I snake went & hid in her bathroom, it was a screaming running for all episode. I'm also a hoarder, I don't know why I can't throw away stuff. It must be some post WWII behavior, making us save everything to the extreme. It must be inherited bc I see my dad hoarding napkins & plastic forks & spoons at resturants & diners. The only way I can make myself feel better about this awful condition is to Watch Hoarders because I'm watching people with this condition a thousand times worst than I am! It's really a sad case!

[nmbrown863]

I have watched it in the past. Sadly I know someone like that, though they have gotten a lot better over the past few years.

[Nancy5]

I’ve watched the show and don’t understand how that starts.  I get once it’s a path you just keep adding, but how does it start.  I’m not trying to be funny, I don’t understand.  Do you one day just decide to put say the newspaper on the floor, and the next day add to it, and so on?  Hoarding is one thing my sister and I are definitely not.  Our mothers two favorite sayings were, 1) when in doubt..throw it out and 2) put it away, or I’ll throw it away (and she did many times)   Thankfully my husband is a clean freak also.

[killers2]

I feel bad for the people on the shows.  I know some people who are like that but not as bad as the show.

[plennis]

My kids think I am a hoarder then I remind them of whom the junk really belongs to.  I threaten to throw it out then I think why should I do all of the work?  The few times that I have managed to clear a spot, one of them brings more stuff to fill that spot.  I can't win. 

I have watch the shoes a few times.  I can relate.  LOL

Funny how they think you are the hoarder, but it is all of their things.  I have the same problem with 4 grown children.  But  have of late been getting rid of things, I call and asked them if they want if not it goes to the VVA.

[nickylanena]

I used to watch Hoarders when I was in high school.

[minioncookies]

Hoarders just have a hard time letting things go. Don't consider it an illness just an issue that some have. Their are probably several reason's why people do it. Loss of a loved one, family moving out, keeping onto a memory of a deer friend could be some reasons.

[vg7405]

I love this show (and the related Hoarding: Buried Alive series). Every time I watch either of these shows, I have this extreme desire to clean my house a million times, LOL.

[JaniceSW]

I used to watch these shows regularly. However, I rarely watch them now.  I think I just got somewhat depressed that people can live that way.  When there is a home where there is human and animal feces all over and spoiled food and bugs that must stink to high heaven, it is obvious the person has mental health problems.  That is why there is a psychologist and an organizing team working together.  No one without issues would live in the circumstances described which puts their own health in danger as well as isolates them from both friends and family.

[mrsmere]

I have seen some clips but never watched an entire show.  My brother is a hoarder and can't sleep in his own bedroom for so much stuff.  We have to stay in a hotel when we visit because I'm told the place is a mess and he will not let anyone come in there.  He claim he's gathering stuff to go live in a cave so that must be a mental case.

[braggin]

I never watch those shows because I am living live with a hoarder myself and have to deal with the problem every day of my life. My house and yard are jam packed with stuff I am just dying to get rid of.

[judylucas]

I never watch these programs very sad

[santa7]

I've only watched a couple of those shows.  I myself am/was a hoarder.  I went to therapy for it because I didn't know myself why I did that.  It is a mental illness caused by trauma in one's life.  My trauma was my parents taking turns getting their last rights in the hospitals. 

I've gotten better and my daughters and oldest granddaughter have given much of my stuff to good will and churches.  I myself have given away much, much stuff over the years.

[JaniceSW]

I've only watched a couple of those shows.  I myself am/was a hoarder.  I went to therapy for it because I didn't know myself why I did that.  It is a mental illness caused by trauma in one's life.  My trauma was my parents taking turns getting their last rights in the hospitals. 

I've gotten better and my daughters and oldest granddaughter have given much of my stuff to good will and churches.  I myself have given away much, much stuff over the years.

I am happy you took the initiative to get therapy, understand the root of your problem, and you are constantly trying to keep it under control.  I wish you much luck on that and hope you are increasingly successful!

[UGetPaid]

I've only watched a couple of those shows.  I myself am/was a hoarder.  I went to therapy for it because I didn't know myself why I did that. 

So I am asking seriously, not poking fun or belittling. Can you be "cured" of this condition or is it like alcoholism - once a hoarder, always a hoarder? Or can you get better and still have underlying urges and fall off the wagon if you have another triggering moment?


I am not a hoarder, but I do sometimes find myself having difficulty throwing away things that remind me of someone or something; other times I keep something that I don't immediately need, but may find useful down the road.  Those are two justifications that many of the people featured on the show use - in a much larger circumstance.


You see a lot of the folks on the show fall back into the same pattern over and over again.