Hoarding

[Liquidfire_43]

I don't know anyone who hoards... I seen a lot of things people could die from hoarding... Ihave junk laying around but at times I clean it out when I think it's to messy

[vickysue]

Hubby's aunt was the worst hoarder I ever saw and hope to never see again. He and I were married for over 5 years before she would even let us in the house to visit with her. I swear when we would go to pick her up I would see mice in the windows waving at us. When she wanted to moved down where we were living. We went to move her and it was the most awful place.  (she was in her 90's) We went through and loaded part of her stuff. And then hired cleaners to clean it out. The workers would not even go in without hazemat gear. Cost us $2100.00 for them to remove everything.
She had paper goods going back to the early 40's. I am surprised we didn't get sick. Took pictures of it all. If she knew we were coming she would take all of her trash and throw it in a bedroom.  If a person has a family hoarder I would suggest you get them some help.  My dad is a hoarder, and I toss useless things out quite often and he never misses it.

[metsrock69]

I Have A  business to where if I clean out a hoarder house, I make $5000.00 minimum. I haven't cleaned one yet but I helped, and yes they could smell badly

[CharmedPhoenix]

The hoarding isn't the disability, it's the symptom.  When a person feels an emptiness in their life they fill it with stuff.  It's also an extreme version of Depression thinking, for some people, from when things were scarce and everything had to be reused.  It can be handed down to the next generation as a mindset.  There's a fear of running out of things they need, experiencing scarcity, etc.

You can't just go in and clean out a hoarder's house and expect it to stay that way.  If you don't treat the underlying disease they'll just fill it with new stuff.

And yes, as a caregiver I took care of a lady who's apartment was dangerously filled.  It was sad since they didn't seem to be treating her mental problems that caused this situation.  My mother also had this extreme case of empty nest syndrome. 

[madeara]

Hi!
Yes, hoarding is a major disorder.  My best friend's soon to be ex husband is a hoarder.  Their apartment was condemned and she was forced to leave because of his hoarding.  It was really a sad situation.  I was just heartbroken for her.

[genaadele]

my mom is a hoarder, much to my dismay 

[Nancy5]

One of my friend's parents were hoarders.  If you were lucky enough? to be allowed in the home it was something I never saw before.  There was only a path in the living room that you could walk through, the stuff was piled up so high in the living room.  There was one seat empty for each parent to sit and that was it.  The bedrooms were terrible.  The master bedroom had the same oath as the living room had, and the other bedrooms you could not see in due to "things" in the room.  I assume there was a dining room table, but again you could not see it.  After being in the home, which had a terrible smell, a few minutes I saw a mouse (or maybe a rat) run across the dining room into the kitchen I left and never returned!

[dodgers16]

   I never have been a hoarder, but ever since I started selling stuff on EBay I have started to become kind of a hoarder but onlt until the item sells...lol

[sherryinutah]

I understand that some disabled people have a tendency to hoard.  It's also a common thing among individuals who are mentally ill.

I'm the opposite.  I'm a minimalist and I wake up each morning with thoughts about what I can get rid of today.  I often sell things I no longer need on eBay.

 

[tikihut5]

I used to hoard things. It didn't get as bad as some, but school assignments from years ago needed to go. I found my backpack from the 8th grade and it still had everything in it from that year just as I had left it. I've gotten rid of so much stuff and there's still a lot to go through. I'm amazed at some of the crap I've held on to.

[Penwoir]

I don't know anyone who is a hoarder, however I do remember watching a program on tv in which a hoarder had kept so much stuff, you could not walk through the entire house. There were newspapers and boxes from floor to ceiling and you had to crawl through a tunnel of trash which had been assembled over many years, to get to the bedroom, which was also a mess. I mean, you couldn't even sit on the bed because it was totally covered.

[alwaysinstyle]

That it so sad...imagine how many people actually live like that...we have no idea...

[kilophkadamas]

I try to take the stance not judging the individuals, but at the core we all know that they have a lot of attachment to their materials. This can help fill the void for people who don't have much loved ones or emotional support from their loved ones or for whatever reason, whether they realize it or not.

In the end, if it's not hurting anyone and it brings joy to the person's life, I'm fine with it.