Comments on: Hoarding danger in Massachusetts

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:30:56 +0000

What are some good ways to teach children to be uncluttered? My Gran died leaving a house full of old papers and big balls of little bits of string tied together; my stepfather has taken over a (large) house with papers and scientific apparatus, much of it outdated; my husband uses a floordrobe and never puts things back where he found them; my in-laws attempt to give us furniture they don’t want (nor do we) but want to keep in the family. My own accumulations of papers that I might need to refer to in future, and supplies for art-and-craft projects I will never undertake, are of course quite different. I guess I’m right to fear my kids are doomed…

By: Whyfly

Whyfly — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:32:38 +0000

To another depressed horder:
It sounds like counceling could do you good, if you are continuing to fight depression. Hoarding makes us feel secure, which is okay until dealing with the clutter takes over our lives.

As for cleaning out the clutter, stop kicking yourself for not finishing, pat yourself on the back that you keep trying. Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It took you some years to build up the clutter, it’s may take some time to get it out. Just keep trying.

By: trying hard

trying hard — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:18:37 +0000

I wish I could be a #1, but being in a small apartment, just married, with no garage storage or anything, no matter how much I try to organize, there are just things that don’t have a place to go. I do my best, but it doesn’t help that my husband is a “plopper” (drops everything he’s carrying into the house right by the door, and then proceeds to empty out his pockets onto any available surface). Although things pile up, I always make sure there is a pathway to everything and tablespace (even if it’s reduced somewhat). Then, when I get a chunk of time, I tackle a trouble spot until it’s like #1, feel great, and keep going, until it’s back to the workweek and I come home to #3 again… *sigh*

By: julia1060

julia1060 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:06:05 +0000

My father hoarded progressively from the time my mother died until his own passing 20 years later. When he died, we filled two dumpsters full, moved countless items out of the house and sold countless more. It took a solid week of full time work with multiple people doing it. As the person who organized his estate sale, moved the dust and wore a ventilator while doing it, all I can say is hoarding doesn’t save, it wastes – time, energy, emotions, money.

By: another depressed hoarder

another depressed hoarder — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:24:33 +0000

Reading stories like this makes me sad because I foresee a similar fate for myself. The comment “Be aware that hoarding usually takes a hold of an individual when they reach middle age and progressively gets worse.” is true in my case. When I got divorced in my early 30s I became depressed. Things started piling up around my house, years’ worth of magazines, newspapers, mail, broken electronics, etc. I am now nearing 40 and I still have piles of junk around me. I am afraid of ending up like this man but it is difficult to know where to turn to find help. Blogs like this one so far have helped to inspire me to clean maybe a room or two. Then the piles start up again. Is this something I should see a doctor for? I wish I could just throw it all away but I cling to it.

By: sharon

sharon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:05:49 +0000

A woman I met complained once about “all the CLUTTER” in her condo, especially a “huge stack” of magazines. I asked her to define “huge stack”, & she said “Gee, maybe 5 or 6?” She wasn’t kidding. I didn’t mention my multiple stacks of magazines, papers, catalogs, etc, which probably numbered (and still number) in the hundreds. This is the same woman who “pre-cleans” before her cleaning woman comes every week for her 900 s.f. condo.

We’re all different, I guess!

By: DJ

DJ — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:34:36 +0000

I once stayed overnight with a relative whose guest bedroom was even more cluttered than photo number 9.

I slept draped over boxes of clutter, waiting for the rest to fall down on me.

I’m a #1 from the photo above, the polar opposite of my poor relative. A Clash of the Titans, as it were.

By: quench

quench — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:57:02 +0000

Isn’t the range between #1 and #2 a lot more varied than they suggest. To me, they don’t look close at all. #1 is much too neat to describe my place, but #2 is waaay too messy.

By: Arielle

Arielle — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:54:44 +0000

I recently wrote this blog due to your influencing post, maybe it can be useful to you in an upcoming post: http://joemamaknows.wordpress.com/2007/09/26/rule-8-if-this-is-your-first-night-at-fight-club-you-have-to-fight/ P.S. The rooms in my house were #2s/ 3s at their worst... but after a long two weekends they are all proudly #1s

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:37:43 +0000

My friend works for his dad’s cleaning company and #4 and #5 represent my friend’s apartment.
I’m crashing here for a week and I’ve been slowly throwing stuff into trashbags to expand the path from the door to the couch into more of a double-path and soon we might find the kitchen table.

By: Swistle

Swistle — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:45:39 +0000

Hi–I’m new to this blog and really enjoying it.

I’m so relieved to see, in these photos, that there are worse cluttery messes than I have. It makes me feel as if there is HOPE!

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:32:40 +0000

I’m a 1, but both my parents are hoarders, so it is probably in reaction to that. Their home looks like the pictures in the Crazy Mom article.

By: KT

KT — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:59:37 +0000

I’ve helped people like the guy with the crazy mom (Schizohedron, above) to unclutter, and let me tell you, it is hard as heck. You have to get them to stay out of the house completely for a few days, and haul every bit of trash/junk with you daily or it is put back into the house. Once you’re about 75% finished, they get with the plan and start helping, and start figuring out what they need to do…they have to first see that it’s possible and that the world didn’t end when their junk went away.

OTOH, I’m fighting a clutter battle in my own home at the moment, since I bought a fixer with no storage, then got married and inherited all his stuff, then had a friend who needed a place to live move in…OY VAY! All I can say is I’d be dead meat without Freecycle.

Oh, and my declutter tip: Paper clutter is my biggest enemy. I now scan everything that I need to save records of, and make PDFs that go on CDs. For receipts and tax records, I use NeatReceipts. I’m down from six full paper boxes to a notebook full of CDs. Yippee!

By: pril

pril — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:22:13 +0000

okay i’m not as bad as i thought but my poor dad!!! but it’s true he doest want things to go to waste.. so he keeps them someone will need it one day!! I just figure i can go buy one and that has helped me.. my dad is a number 5-8 allthought one room is a 9 he has a pole barn that looks like 8-9 and when i meet him at 18 i seen this and didn’t want to grow up that way!
In my life I have went from 4-7.. now i’m 2-4 with ibn 5 years so improvment can happen! YIPPY!!!

By: Schizohedron

Schizohedron — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:12:05 +0000

Check out this series of photos for what might be a 10 (many pix, so dialup users may experience a delay): This Guy Has a Crazy Mom.

By: Melissa A.

Melissa A. — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 02:03:49 +0000

Wow. Those pictures were intense. I’m happy to say my home usually looks like the first picture.

By: susan

susan — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:43:37 +0000

My ex boss’s office falls somewhere between 5 and 7. His keyboard is perched on a least 6 inches of clutter. He told me one day that there might be some thing useful on one of these pieces of paper. All I could think is that he would never be able to find it.

Funny story. He asked me about a cat I had adopted from the local animal shelter. I told him the cat I adopted came out of an animal hoarder’s house. He asked me what that was and I answered that it was one of those people that had house over run with animals. He looked at me funny and said that his wife had 7 indoor cats when they were dating. I back pedeled quickly and replied that 7 cats were not THAT many. I can imagine what their house looks like!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 15:40:06 +0000

This title in my bookmarks bar looked like a call to arms. I thought we were going to assemble and drop into Massachusetts to declutter the state.

By: STL Mom

STL Mom — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:46:48 +0000

Thank goodness they showed a bedroom. I never leave anything on the bed, so I can confidently point to number one.
Now, if they showed a desk piled up I’d be looking at some higher numbers…

By: verily

verily — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:05:31 +0000

I fit somewhere between Image 1 and 2.

I knew someone who comes from a family that maintains their home at around Image 4/5. It’s dreadful, and they definitely have a hoarder mentality.