Trash-Filled Car Raises Concern About Owner

Kathy Curran
Reporting

(WBZ) BOSTON If we're talking about a few old coffee cups or maybe a wrapper or two, a little bit of a mess in your car can be acceptable, but this weekend, a Cape Cod woman's car was so overrun with garbage, it actually caused a crash.

The trash pileup is troubling and it could be a sign of a serious medical condition.

The car jammed with shopping bags and trash send police to a Yarmouth woman's home. "It's not a very livable condition that you want to see… We want to get her some help," said Sgt. Gerard Britt of the Yarmouth Police Department.

Help is needed because Ann Biglan's home is overflowing. It's surrounded by bags and three cars full of household items and debris. On Friday, old coffee cups jammed her accelerator; she crossed three lanes of traffic on Route 28 and crashed into a pole and a car.

"It looks like items she purchased and is continuing to hold onto for whatever reason. She's hording all this," said Britt.

Right now, there is no way in or out about a house. There is so much stuff inside the home, the front door is bowed out.

"Twenty percent with obsessive compulsive disorder, which may be one to two percent of the population -- at least statistically, have hoarding as one of their main obsessive and compulsive problems," said Dr. Shannon Scarry of the Cape Cod Hospital.

"If you need to get some help, we're going to help you with that," said Officer Britt as he spoke through a closed window to Ann.

In the end, police helped Ann move out of her home because they don't think the house and Ann are safe.

The house is in such bad shape, town officials and the Health Department plan to take steps to have it condemned.

ANOTHER SOURCE FOR STORY:

Woman Possibly Suffering From Hoarding Causes Accident, Due To Trash In Vehicle

February 13, 2007 10:13 a.m. EST

Boston, MA (AHN) - Authorities are investigating and also seeking out health options for a woman who caused a car crash due to an overflow of trash and garbage in her vehicle.

The Cape Cod woman's car was so full of trash and shopping bags that police were sent to her home and found it not very livable. Officers at the scene investigating the crash found "the entire interior of the vehicle was filled with all sorts of trash and rubbish, which covered the complete interior of the vehicle from floor to ceiling front and back."

Authorities and health officials believe the trash pileup is troubling and it could be a sign of a serious medical condition tied to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder called hoarding.

Ann Biglan, 53, is apparently suffering from hoarding, and that disease is what caused not only her life but her car to spiral out of control. According to a WBZTV report on Friday, old coffee cups jammed her accelerator, she crossed three lanes of traffic on Route 28 and crashed into a pole and a car.

A Local 6 news report says Biglan drove her Ford Focus through a post office parking space, over the curb and across a roadway, then hit a Ford Explorer and backed over another sidewalk before finally crashing into a flowerpot in a gas station's parking.

Authorities say Biglan was charged with negligent and impeded operation of a motor vehicle, failure to use care in backing, and operating with a rejected safety inspection sticker.

Following the crash and investigation of her home officers had this to say: "It's not a very livable condition that you want to see... We want to get her some help," said Sgt. Gerard Britt of the Yarmouth Police Department. Press reports say Biglan's home is overflowing. It's surrounded by bags and three cars full of household items and debris. "It looks like items she purchased and is continuing to hold onto for whatever reason. She's hoarding all this," said Britt. Officers say there is currently no way in or out of the house and the home is literally so filled with trash that the front door is bowed out.Officer Britt, speaking to Biglan through a closed window, said, "If you need to get some help, we're going to help you with that."

Hoarding has been tied to a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder and in recent years is growing in awareness.

The Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - Hoarding website says, "People hoard for the following reasons: Sentimental Value, Decision Making, Organizing, Responsibility, Control/Perfection, Scared to Forget/Perfectionism, and Letting go of Things."

The website also says simplified hoarding is about the fear of throwing something away that you might need someday, of not being able to remember it perfectly or that if thrown away it will cause a problem or that something bad may happen. Dr. Shannon Scarry of the Cape Cod Hospital says, "Twenty percent with obsessive compulsive disorder, which may be one to two percent of the population -- at least statistically, have hoarding as one of their main obsessive and compulsive problems."Excessive hoarders, who fill their houses with accumulations of junk, usually newspapers, bags of old clothing and lists, tend to experience more anxiety, depression and social disability than OCD patients with other symptoms. Sadly, hoarders are also less likely to seek help as they are able to hide this disease by shielding their home life or the places where they hoard.

Medical researchers on the Medicinenet.com website say pathological hoarders have decreased activity in the anterior cingulate, a brain structure involved in decision making and problem solving, compared with people with other OCD symptoms. The hoarders also show less activation than the healthy subjects in the posterior cingulate, an area involved in spatial orientation, memory and emotion. After police investigated the crash and home, officers helped Ann move out of the house because they didn't think the house or Ann were safe. The house was in such disarray that town officials in Yarmouth and the Health Department plan to take steps to have it condemned.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006449708

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Posted on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 @ 16:43:05 ICT by Donna