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POSTED: 9:20 am PST February 22, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Maybe you know somebody who has an unusual collection of plastic bags or old newspapers piled up to the ceiling. Is it simply clutter or is it more than that? NBC4's Paul Moyer met a Southland family struggling with how to help their mother whose clutter has literally pushed them all out of the house. ...
Following is a verbatim script from the on-air report. Visit this page Friday morning to view video of the report.
CYNTHIA LESTER: Literally I could touch the ceiling with my hand.
PAUL MOYER (showing video of house): This is the house Cynthia Lester grew up in.
CYNTHIA: The ground was unstable. You were walking on piles of garbage.
MOYER: And the reason she left home at only thirteen.
CYNTHIA: There was a breaking point where I couldn't take it anymore and had to get out.
MOYER: As an adult, Cynthia, a filmmaker, began documenting her family's struggle.
CYNTHIA: I am determined to understand it and get help for my mom.
MOYER (SHOWING IMAGES): These images are from Cynthia's upcoming documentary titled "My Mother's Garden."
CYNTHIA: You couldn't walk into the house. You had to climb through a window to get into the house.
MOYER: The house became so cluttered, so unlivable that Cynthia's mom began sleeping in her backyard.
Eugenia Lester has an obsessive hoarding disorder.
CYNTHIA: The air was so stagnant in there. My mom tends to hoard food. You have a rotting melon just sitting out in the air and flies come, rodents come.
MOYER: Hoarding is a behavior most commonly associated with obsessive compulsive disorder.
A hoarder collects tremendous quantities of things most of us would consider useless - even trash.
They collect to such a debilitating extreme that it interferes with their ability to function -
Mental health experts believe there are approximately 1.4 million people nationwide who hoard - in many cases their brains function differently - making it difficult - seemingly impossible for them to make decisions or prioritize.
KARRON MAIDMENT, UCLA OCD INTENSIVE TREATMENT PROGRAM: We'll go through that clutter, one item at a time, and have the person make an absolute decision about that item. They can decide to throw it away, they can decide to keep it, they can decide to recycle it but they can't decide to put it to one side for right now because they don't know what to do with it.
Because there is tremendous family secrecy and shame about hoarding - there is limited public awareness.
MOYER: What did you think was wrong with your mom in those days?
ANDY LESTER: I just thought she schizophrenic - crazy. I didn't know what to think.
This place is a disaster. It's a rat jungle pretty much.
MOYER: Cynthia says her mom kept spiraling downward - unable to keep a job and living with no running water and limited electricity.
Because hoarding can become a public safety issue - with the threat of fire, rodents and disease the situation became critical.
CYNTHIA (TALKING TO MOM): The city was about to take your house away. I wanted to give you a better life.
MOYER: So Cynthia took her mom to New York for two months - as her brothers began to clean.
CYNTHIA: It took about 10 dumpsters to clean out the house.
MOYER: After a lifetime of desperation, Eugenia's children were doing what they thought was best.
CYNTHIA: My mom came back, she saw the house. It was very traumatic for her.
ANDY: I thought we were doing her a favor. She comes back and explosion. She lost it.
EUGENIA: I hate you. You robbed me. (crying)
MOYER: How'd that make you feel?
ANDY: Not great.
MOYER: Eugenia became depressed and had to be hospitalized.
Moyer: Is she capable of not hoarding anymore?
ANDY: But given the same scenario, I am sure it would still happen.
MOYER: Do you love your mom?
ANDY: Love her very much.
MOYER: Are you angry at her?
ANDY: Not angry, but more like just at a loss with her.
EUGENIA: I appreciate they concern about me, but I am still aching. Don't think throwing out my possession in a dumpster is the right way.
You know we have different opinions about that stuff. Like I don't agree I have a hoarding disorder.
MOYER: Eugenia still considers the piles, collections and dirty and broken pieces of furniture her treasures.
EUGENIA: I wanted to give to all my kids what they need to start their life with.
MOYER: Things she was saving for her children. And now all her children want is to save her.
Cynthia continues to search for an appropriate treatment program for her mom. If you know someone who may be a hoarder it is important to note that experts do not recommend massive purging without also getting proper therapy. This is a mental disorder. There are no quick fixes.
For more information on the documentary "My Mother's Garden" please go to: www.seethrough-films.com/mmg
For more information on Obsessive Hoarding Disorder please go to: www.OCFoundation.org or http://www.childrenofhoarders.com or http://dmh.lacounty.gov/
http://www.nbc4.tv/health/11083229/detail.html?dl=mainclick#
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Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 @ 18:32:17 ICT by Donna
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| NBC 4-Los Angeles News Piece on Hoarding and Family 2/22/07 | Login/Create an Account | 0 comments | | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
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