Hoarding becomes a health, safety issue
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER

It is known as hoarding - stacks of newspapers, magazines, bags of clothing and unpacked groceries that create corridors inside the home; yards cluttered with old toys, boxes, crates, rotting vehicles and decrepit boats, salvaged building materials, tires, bottles and cans, animals or myriad other items.

Of the three hoarding interventions that Nantucket Health Inspector Richard Ray and his department have performed recently - for the sake of the health and safety of the individuals involved - all three hoarders, upon returning to their homes, died.

"In all three instances of going in and cleaning these places up, within weeks of relocating the individual back into a clean environment, the individual passed away," said Ray. "It was such a dramatic change for them because we didn't realize the impact of the sociological change."

Next month, Ray will attend a conference to learn how other towns in the state deal with residents who hoard. MassHousing's Dec. 12 Annual Community Service Conference, this year entitled, "Thinking Outside the Box(es): A Housing, Service, Clinical and Enforcement Team Approach to Hoarding" should be an eye-opener for Ray.

As there is no specific town bylaw that regulates out-of-control collecting habits, Ray relies on several unrelated zoning, health and fire safety bylaws for clean up. However, he and his staff must proceed delicately because of the psychological impact of separating a hoarder from collections that no longer hold any value but that are, in effect, an extra physical organ in their bodies that if removed, can have dire consequences.

"This certainly is a deep-seated psychological problem for many people and it's not something that is easily addressed or cured," said Ray. "It literally takes years for people who may be considered hoarders to change."

Ray said that hoarders do not become a problem until emergency rescue personnel or utilities service people have to enter a home.

"It seems to be prevalent in older folks, collectors who have let things get out of hand, collectors who have the greatest of intentions," said Ray. "This is an issue that we as the Health Department - and when I say we, I mean the state - are dealing with. Hoarding has now come to the forefront of a lot of health departments, because now it has become an exterior issue. Most hoarders do it inside."

The Mayo Clinic describes hoarding, otherwise known as Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome, as a psychological disorder that researchers believe is connected to obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition to the collecting of inanimate objects, some hoarders pack their houses and yards with scores and even hundreds of animals, including cats, dogs, farm animals and birds whose excrement they never clean up, creating a breeding ground for disease.

"People who hoard feel compelled to acquire or save items that others may consider worthless," reads a Mayo Clinic article. "They may stock up on items at garage sales or rummage through other people's trash. They often spend lots of time moving items in their homes from one pile to another, without actually discarding anything. They may be so preoccupied by all their clutter and belongings that they don't socialize with family or friends."

Senior citizens and the sedentary are prone to Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome, and Ray said that a combined therapy of counseling and cleanup takes on average of 12 to 18 months to cure hoarders. But, he added, there is no guarantee that they will not immediately resume their collecting unless they are closely watched.

Ray cited a court case against a hoarder on Cape Cod in which the judge ordered that every item the person owned be brought before him so the hoarder could justify the necessity of its use and the only possession that the hoarder got to keep on his property was a boat.

"It's an issue that's risen to a level of notice within the community because it has now become an outside issue," said Ray. "The storage items have exceeded the structure and have become an attractive nuisance or an eyesore."

For those who think they know someone who is hoarding, Ray cautions that these people believe what they are doing is perfectly normal. According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, hoarding symptoms include: • Inability to discard items; • Acquiring unneeded or seemingly useless items; • Keeping stacks of newspapers, magazines or junk

mail; • Saving trash or used food containers; • Cluttered living spaces; • Impairment of daily activities; • Procrastination; • Trouble making decisions; • Perfectionism; • Difficulty organizing items; • Forming attachments to possessions rather than

people; • Restricting others from touching or borrowing possessions. Naturally, Ray and the Health Department cannot help unless a complaint is filed.

http://www.nantucketindependent.com/news/2007/1121/Front_Page/001.html