the secret lives of hoarders

 

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, June 1, 2008

By Eric Adler

McClatchy Newspapers

Hoarding by elderly on upswing, officials say

Tucson Citizen
NORA AVERY-PAGE
Cronkite News Service

By LE ROY STANDISH
The Daily Sentinel  -  Tuesday, April 22, 2008

“I’m a human being,” he says defensively when asked. He rips into zoning officials and talks about how government has gotten so oppressive it won’t allow a man to put anything on his property.

Click here to listen to article

Waist-high clothing piles and other hoarding issues: Selectmen study issue as vote on anti-blight approaches

By Brian Messenger
Staff writer

Monday, March 24, 2008
Woman in squalid house pleads no contest to neglect
Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News

Health workers offer help to S.F.'s packrats
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

*View over 100 comments from public

There is a really good article on MSNBC.com today about Hoarding, and they are also asking for stories from those who have had a first hand look at hoarding.  (They also mention the COH site & HelpingHoarders.com)
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Engulfed in clutter, hoarders keep heaping it on
New research and city efforts offer hope in sorting out destructive disorder
By Diane Mapes
Special to MSNBC

Mar. 04, 2008

Eliminating clutter helps clear mind
By PATTI GHEZZI - Cox News Service

While helping her elderly mother move two years ago, Melanie Whitworth was taken aback by how much
stuff her mother had accumulated and the emotional toll of sorting through it.

Thursday, February 28, 2008
Son investigated for elder abuse in filthy house case

Inspectors found pile of cat feces, dead cats, inoperative plumbing
and winged insects in Villa Park home.

"Delta is in a clinic - not a psych ward - to adjust medication," the rep says.
"This is something she does once or twice a year.

Why sadness can blow your budget

CNN.com
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- If you're sad and shopping, watch your wallet: A new study shows people's spending judgment goes out the window when they're down, especially if they're a bit self-absorbed.

TMZ show interview with Delta Burke.

She said:

*Been hoarding since she was 18
*It's a comfort to her...like she guesses the way food comforts people
*Says she keeps even "stupid things"
*She has 27 storage units
*She is learning why she does it, she doesn't understand *why* she
does it but it is very clear that
SHE HATES HATES HATES BEING A HOARDER.
*She was trying not to cry as she has never talked to anyone about it
before but said "I know this is what I need to do to get better."

Delta Burke admits to having Compulsive Hoarding Disorder

Clutter blindness

Gary Kemper, Sydney general manager of the rubbish clearance company 1800-GOT-JUNK?, says many hoarders have a deep-rooted reason for never disposing of their possessions.

"People become blind to the clutter," Kemper says. "They literally don't see it in front of them."

Detectives Go Beyond the Badge to Help (Bainbridge Island) Family Out of Squalor

By Rachel Pritchett (Contact)
Thursday, December 27, 2007

The New York Times, 1/1/2008
...But experts say the problem with all this is that many people are going about it in the wrong way. Too often they approach clutter and disorganization as a space problem that can be solved by acquiring bins and organizers.

Measures like these “are based on the concept that this is a house problem,” said David F. Tolin, director of the anxiety disorders center at the Institute of Living in Hartford and an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Yale.

“It isn’t a house problem,” he went on. “It’s a person problem. The person needs to fundamentally change their behavior.”

Ms. Johnson says she often sees a link between her client’s efforts to get organized and weight loss. “I think someone decides, ‘I’m not going to live like this anymore. I’m not going to hold onto my stuff, I’m not going to hold onto my weight,’” she said. “I don’t know that one comes before the other. It’s part of that same life-change decision.”...

Winnipeg Free Press:  Woman's eviction shows plight of mentally ill

 

Fri Dec 28 2007

He did evict the woman. He did so on the advice of the health department which, acting on a complaint from other tenants, found her one-bedroom apartment infested with bedbugs. Officials ordered the apartment sealed, the contents destroyed and the entire block fumigated.

The problem, Bibik said, is that the woman has a mental illness that causes her to "dumpster dive" -- that is to scour trash bins for anything of interest -- and to stockpile her findings in her home...

A Cluttered Mind
By Susan Fadem

“It’s sad. Hoarding really affects the person’s self-esteem, more than it should,” said Tim Grove, Ph.D., a licensed counseling psychologist. “There are lots of disorders a person can have, but with something like hoarding, they feel almost as if they’re doing something immoral. It’s not like if you have cancer or multiple sclerosis, which are more acceptable diseases.”

Grove, an independent contractor, works at St. Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute and at an agency in Columbia, Mo. With therapy, support groups and medication, he said, “most hoarders get better, and some people get quite a bit better.”...

Hoarding as a Mental Illness
How to Help Someone With This Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Goals of therapy for hoarders, health/fitness-The Oklahoman-Friday, November 30, 2007

-- Avoid repeatedly asking: "Why? Why do I hoard?" Recovery doesn't require an answer to "Why?" Remember: obsessive-compulsive disorder is not logical. Ask instead: "What is my objective? How can I best get there?"

-- Develop an ability to tolerate intense emotions. Rate intensity of feelings on a scale of 1 to 10. Observe changes in intensity of feelings. Notice that feelings come and go; saving things is not required to reduce anxiety.

-- Only Handle It Once. Deal with each item only once as soon as it comes into the house, instead of storing items to check more thoroughly later. Do not retrieve items from the trash when second thoughts raise doubt.

-- Simplify decision-making. Limit choices, (e.g., keep, recycle, sell, give or throw away). Make clear decision rules for each choice, (e.g., keep only 10 plastic bags, dispose of or recycle others). Use broad categories instead of many specific ones. Accept that others, including experts, may do things differently.

-- Buy and keep "just enough." Sales will be repeated. If you run out, it is not a disaster. Keep items you use, dispose of others.

-- Focus on functionality. Select a target, for example, an area such as the kitchen or a corner of a room. "Excavate" the target by throwing away and organizing items. Maintain clear space. Use the cleared space only for its intended purpose.

-- Seek assistance or another opinion. Hoarders have a hard time determining what is "important vs. unimportant," "just enough vs. excessive" or "necessary vs. inconsequential." Seek guidance from a friend or professional. Persevere with your goals. -Source: www.anxietyandstress.com

"It's something that clearly can develop over a long period of time.
It takes on a life of its own and becomes a whole way of coping with the world," D'Asta said.

"All that junk adds weight, and that affects fuel economy, especially in town, with its stop-and-go driving," said Bruce Jones, professor of automotive engineering technology at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The heavier a car is, the more force or torque is needed to get it going again once it's stopped, he explained.

And, in turn, it takes more effort to stop a moving junk car. The brakes won't last as long.

Inefficient as it is, it's not illegal to drive a clutter-filled vehicle, according to Sgt. Don Marose of the Minnesota State Patrol - at least, until the mess is high enough to interfere with seeing out the windows.

More important, however, is safety. The stuff inside cars can become "weapons" in a crash, and not just in a roll-over or a serious collision. Hitting something at 30 miles per hour might stop your car, but it doesn't stop all the stuff inside from flying around. If anything strikes an occupant, it can severely injure and possibly kill them, Marose said.

In addition, when the airbag deploys, it comes out at about 200 miles per hour. Any object in its way is ejected at nearly the same speed, with the same consequences, he added.

Clutter-holic pack rats are coming out of the woodwork-Compulsive hoarding can damage lives

November 25, 2007-BY ERIC ADLER-MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Thursday, 22 November 2007,

BBC News:  Man killed by rubbish was bin man

Oprah Show Summary & Your Comments

Peter Walsh discusses the DVD 3 children of hoarders sent in to
Oprah that will be featured on the upcoming shows this Thurs./Fri.11/15 & 11/16/07

Talk about today's show!Clutter Genetics-Original Air Date: June 8, 2007

Did you inherit your messy, disorganized way of living from your parents or is it something you picked up on your own? To discuss the topic of "clutter genetics," Peter talks with Dr. Francis Collins, a leading geneticist and author of the book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, and Dr. David Tolin, an expert on compulsive hoarding and author of Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding....go to site...

OCD-Action, United Kingdom

Share your story

 

Readers Digest, Australia Article by Sarah Etchells

Website links for Compulsive Hoarding
Australia:Anxiety Australia -Anxiety Recovery Australia -Pain, Anxiety and Mood Guide -Obsessive Compulsive Foundation
New Zealand:  OCD Support Group (Christchurch branch)

When Clutter Goes Out of Control

His story is helping others, and now Barry Kopulos is sharing it with a new audience.
A hoarder as a result of obsessive compulsive disorder, the security guard had filled his one-bedroom apartment with thousands of items including books, magazines and newspapers. In late September an eviction notice forced him to clean house, a tough process he has documented and eventually hopes to make a film about. He will begin the process by telling his story tomorrow at OCD Centre Manitoba Inc. ...

Holding on to the past Hoarding a harmless hobby for most, but can lead to health problems, shame 10/18/07: TimesDaily.com, Alabama

"There are a lot of people who are real information junkies and they're very bright people, very interested in many things, which is sometimes part of the problem," said Steketee. "They love information and are unwilling to give it up in its physical manifestation."