That show on tv: "Hoarders"

[tmm99]

All I know is I want my next door neighbor to see the show and realize that she is just like them. At least her living room is as bad as the living rooms I see on this show. (I've only seen her living room from the front door when I talk to her.) It wasn't that bad a few years ago (and they used to keep the drapes open during the day, but now they are drawn all day/night long.) She did a yard sale a few months ago and I was thinking FINALLY she is getting rid of stuff, but then, I was shocked to see how little she put up for sale (maybe 2 box worth of stuff).

[Milton]

My apologies for adding to this thread at a somewhat late date. I don't have television so I was not familiar with the show until I saw it during a recent hotel stay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by freedom42 I wonder how someone can live like that but then I think most have a bit of "hoarder" in us. I've been emptying the house of all unused items in preparation for FIRE in another country, and, sometmes it's hard to chuck something that's been sitting in the storage room for 20 years and never been used.

Very true, at least in my case.

I found the show helped me to realize that while I am nowhere near as bad as the unfortunate people profiled (who apparently have a mental illness, and are deserving of sympathy rather than contempt), I do have a tendency to hang onto stuff that I rarely - if ever - use. This increased my resolve to (1) purge things that have accumulated, and (2) avoid accumulting 'gazingus pins'. So, at least in my case, I found it to be somewhat helpful.

[Payin-the-Toll]

The thing I always wonder about, is where do these hoarders (especially the clothes collecters) get all their money to accumulate this stuff? I have a tendency to hoard (like Texas Proud's folks), but don't think I'd ever have the money to hit the big-time in hoarding.

[DangerMouse]

For me, my greatest sympathies are held for the families of the hoarders. The hoarders themselves tend to be selfish, self-centred people who don't seem to care about the feelings of those around them. It's gut wrenching to see the impact that their actions have on their extended family, yet the hoarder seems to think that it is them who deserves all the sympathy.

Personally I don't think it is ok for a child not to be able to eat at a home cooked meal at the dining room table because mum chooses to have both the kitchen and dining room inaccessible for the usual functions. It is a form of child abuse. The stress on the kids face is so obvious.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Payin-the-Toll The thing I always wonder about, is where do these hoarders (especially the clothes collecters) get all their money to accumulate this stuff? I have a tendency to hoard (like Texas Proud's folks), but don't think I'd ever have the money to hit the big-time in hoarding.

They don't really delve into the finances in the hoarders episodes, but from the couple dozen episodes I have seen, it is clear that finances are often horribly mismanaged.

Some are stay at home spouses who fill their otherwise boring days spending all of the working spouse's income, and racking up credit card bills, and tapping the home equity line, and ultimately filing bankruptcy.

Others find free stuff on the side of the road or accept unwanted stuff from coworkers, friends, people they know, etc. Or they scavenge flea markets and thrift shops looking for really inexpensive stuff.

Yet others work regular jobs and are probably somewhat normal to outside observers but have this horrible secret habit of buying lots of stuff. Imagine if you took your $1000-2000 a month you save in 401ks and IRAs and instead bought clothes on sale every month with that money. Wouldn't take long to fill up a room or two. And some of these hoarders have been at it for decades.

Others are enabled by children, parents, or siblings who let them borrow money or bail them out when they get in trouble for hoarding.

In regards to financial disasters and hoarding, the most pitiful example was a guy in Massachusetts I think who had a rental apartment but had kept it full of junk for decades and had foregone $4000 per month in rent (per his estimates). And as a result the couple was still working, even as the wife had a heart attack.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerMouse For me, my greatest sympathies are held for the families of the hoarders. The hoarders themselves tend to be selfish, self-centred people who don't seem to care about the feelings of those around them. It's gut wrenching to see the impact that their actions have on their extended family, yet the hoarder seems to think that it is them who deserves all the sympathy. Personally I don't think it is ok for a child not to be able to eat at a home cooked meal at the dining room table because mum chooses to have both the kitchen and dining room inaccessible for the usual functions. It is a form of child abuse. The stress on the kids face is so obvious.

I think it's becoming clear that hoarding is a form of mental illness rather than the "simple" issue of a lack of concern for one's family. Not only that but the recidivism rate seems to be approaching 100%. This is a a reality TV producer's fantasy-- an endless supply of new episodes and followups.

One of the few things that changes hoarder behavior-- at least in the short term-- is being reported to Child Protective Services or other zoning/habitation authorities.

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords I think it's becoming clear that hoarding is a form of mental illness rather than the "simple" issue of a lack of concern for one's family. Not only that but the recidivism rate seems to be approaching 100%. This is a a reality TV producer's fantasy-- an endless supply of new episodes and followups. One of the few things that changes hoarder behavior-- at least in the short term-- is being reported to Child Protective Services or other zoning/habitation authorities.

Agree.

heh heh heh - not a hoarder but starting with an 'empty' new house post Katrina - it's amazing how much 'stuff' has accumulated since 2005. If I were a 'hoarder' - wowzer!

[obgyn65]

Catching up late with this thread also, sorry. +1 for remark below - clearly some of these "hoarding" people shown on TV have psych issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milton ... unfortunate people profiled (who apparently have a mental illness, and are deserving of sympathy rather than contempt), ...

[JakeBrake]

On the other hand, the hoarders are the heroes on "The American Pickers" on the History Channel.

[W2R]

I don't know enough about it to know if this is a psychological illness or not.

Are hoarders people who were required, as kids, to keep their rooms neat and picked up? I honestly don't know one way or the other. As a mom, I wonder if maybe they were never taught to deal with "stuff"... to put things away, to have a place for everything, to think about where they would put something before they buy it, and to throw out trash.

If this is the case, then they are the victims of a sort of child abuse themselves. They were never taught these lessons so they don't know how to do anything differently from what they are doing, and now that they are adults they are subject to ridicule for that reason.

No matter what the cause, it's sad.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I don't know enough about it to know if this is a psychological illness or not. No matter what the cause, it's sad.

Most of them have a tendency toward obsessive/compulsive behavior, and then some sort of trigger causes them to start "collecting". There doesn't seem to be any reason for them to stop, either. Most of them get help when compelled (health problems, child protective services, zoning citations) but after the video crew leaves then the problem eventually starts creeping back in.

A few have become that way from a change in cognition (brain tumor, stroke) but most have "always been like that".

I'd be worried about the kid who was "always" collecting things...

[John Galt III]

I've known a few hoarders in my life. One of them currently keeps 3 storage units full of crap (old furniture, appliances, and other junk) that would get a couple hundred max at yard sale. She keeps paying the storage rent. $80 per month per unit. That's $240 a month to store crap that is almost worthless. $240 times 12 months = $2,880 a year. Whenever I mention how much money she is wasting, she tells me it is none of my business.

[DangerMouse]

It is definitely a psychological issue, the need to hoard. The need to buy something because it is a bargain, yet they never use it.

I think the world's eyes were first opened to this disease when Oprah featured a hoarder. When they cleaned out her house she had something like 6,000 handbags, filled 6 warehouses with "stuff". Basically her issue was when her children left home, she felt an emptiness and filled it with stuff. When they cleared out her house it was filled with mould and other health conditions.

[FIREd]

I must say I am not really bothered by the hoarding itself, but the filth is what gets to me on this show. Like the woman whose bathroom was so cluttered that she had to relieve herself in plastic bags that we would then pile up in a corner of the house.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FD I must say I am not really bothered by the hoarding itself, but the filth is what gets to me on this show. Like the woman whose bathroom was so cluttered that she had to relieve herself in plastic bags that we would then pile up in a corner of the house.

OK, I just decided to never, never, never watch this show!

[2021Dream]

My Grandmother was a hoarder the whole time I was growing up. She liked to sew and knit, so a lot of the stuff was fabric and yarn- a lot of it was donated/salvaged. The rest of it was stuff she would set down and forget about. She definitaly had a number of psychological issues she was dealing with. She had several storage sheds, at least one vacant rental house, and her own house filled floor to ceiling with boxes and boxes of stuff. She felt perpetually humiliated by the state of things, but also had a strong belief that she would eventually find use for everything she had. To her credit, she did use an awful lot of it- one year she made somewhere around 10,000 child-sized t-shirts for children sent to Chile with her church's missionaries. (Obsessive focus on projects like this was another of her "issues") She also was convinced it was simply a matter of organizing everything so she would know where to find things. She would regularly pay me and my cousins $10/day to come over and move boxes from one place to another when we were growing up.

When she got older, she was out of money and had to move to a 400 sqft rent-subsidized apartment. My dad and his 3 brothers told her they would "take care of everything." They got her set up in her new place and told her to accept that she would be really mad at them for awhile, but it would eventually pass. It took them several weekends of trips to the dump to get rid of everything. About 6 months later I visited her in her apartment and it was in a very familiar state- she had a narrow pathway carved out between the door, her bed, and the bathroom. She kept on saying "I just don't know how to keep this place organized!"

I think about her every time I do spring cleaning. If I haven't used it since the last time, I get rid of it.

[Marathoner]

The animal rescue where I volunteer just got our 4th batch, this year, of parrots out of a hoarding situation. It's so sad for those poor creatures. Dozens of cats and dogs were so sick they had to be euthanized. We're hoping we can save these birds and rehabilitate them, but it's not going to be easy.

[martyb]

I caught a few mins of this show today on my lunch break. They actually showed the psychologist or hoarder specialist (whatever) going back to a few of these folks a year later, and they were generally apparent success stories. There was one guy who absolutely refused to straighten up his act, even to the point of losing legal custody of his young son.

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb I caught a few mins of this show today on my lunch break. They actually showed the psychologist or hoarder specialist (whatever) going back to a few of these folks a year later, and they were generally apparent success stories. There was one guy who absolutely refused to straighten up his act, even to the point of losing legal custody of his young son.

Good to hear there are at least a few hoarders (or former hoarders) who can keep on the straight and narrow after taking the cure.

[martyb]

Come to think of it, after looking around, I might be a beginning hoarder myself! I wonder how much they pay for an appearance on the show? I'd be willing to let some pros help clean out my stash...