Of course, now I have a living space in dire need of cleaning/organizing… and the OCD makes me not want to touch any of it. Hmm. A problem. Thankfully, my hoarding was always about new/usable items and not trash – so while I have debts and no free space to show for my bout with hoarding, I don’t have any actual health/odor risks to worry about.

I can totally relate to the comment above about the psychological benefit from throwing everything straight out FAR outweighs the benefits of hanging onto things to donate/recycle. When you actually get yourself moving and you’re ready to DO it… You need to DO IT. Not hang onto things for any reason – no matter how ecological that reason might be.

In other words, depression may play a role in SOME cases but certainly NOT IN ALL cases. If this offends you so be it.

Think about it. If you jam all the space up in a house what are you doing? You are controlling the space. It becomes yours so that you alone can determine what anyone in the house can or cannot do. If all the stuff is yours and only you are allowed to deal with it, then it all becomes about you – the whole world revolves around you. Anyone else is really out of luck. In fact, their feelings and needs really don’t matter compaired to your needs and your feelings. And how does hoarding have anything to do with not doing the laundry or teaching your children not to draw on the walls? Doing those things take effort, something a lazy person isn’t about to do…geez we’ve all had moments where we didn’t want to deal with something but you do it because it has to be done and somebody has to do it.

Jennifer, thanks for clarifying that the experience was so much more involved than the show let on. And your portion of the first episode was positive – I could tell that you and your husband were acknowledging the problem and really trying to fix it. I was especially impressed with his reaction. It was clear it was difficult for him, yet he was able to keep his cool and let the process continue.

@Cathy – I think your post is offensive. To suggest that it’s not a mental disorder, just “narcissium, control issues, and plain ole fashioned laziness” is wrong. Just because you’ve struggled with depression and not hoarding doesn’t mean that hoarding is not a mental disorder. Depression is another disorder that’s often dismissed as laziness. Don’t tell me you were never told “it’s all in your head – just snap out of it” or something equally unhelpful. True hoarding is a mental disorder.

The show at least inspired me to do some serious uncluttering. I had it on tivo, so every commercial break I paused it and got up to put something away, clean a counter, or fold some laundry. All the Clean Sweep and Clean House episodes I’ve watched have never had this effect on me.

First I feel sorry for any child having to grow up in such an environment. Although Jennifer and Ron’s home didn’t “seem” to have alot of rotting garbage in it, I bet it still smelled bad. And it’s an embarrasment for kids to grow up in this situation, it’s a mind game type of thing because mommy and daddy don’t want anyone in the house so the kids have to lie for them, have to lie to their own friends too on why no one can come over. Then there’s the self-esteem issues you have when kids grow up feeling like garbage because by golly mom and/or dad put a higher value on stuff than on their own kids. Happens to quite a few kids IME…then there are the truely unfortunate kids who go to school in clothing that reeks…just REEKS of garbage and animal pee. Just imagine the ridicule. One of my son’s friends grew up in that type of home and there were times when his friend would come over to our house and I would have clean clothes for him to wear while he took a shower and I washed his clothing several times over…(just so you know I was always very gentle and kind to him I never said anything nasty to the boy as it wasn’t his fault he was in this situation and believe me I told him that I never blamed him or looked down on him because of their neglect)…it got to the point that he would bring his laundry over to my house because he knew I would wash and dry it and fold it up nicely for him. He was always so grateful for not only the clean clothes and a shower with a clean towel but for the attention and food we gave him too…

I also feel sorry for anyone who rents to someone with a severe case of hoarding. Like the poster Enigma (near top of page) who is facing thousands of dollars in repairs, I imagine the landlord for Jill will probably be facing a total demolition of that house once she is gone. You cannot have rotting garbage and feces laying on the floor year after year after year without damaging the property. I can easily imagine that other things are not working as they should (plumbing and all the appliances) if there was other damage say a leaking roof, how likely would it have been for Jill to have called the landlord in to fix it? Mold in the roof or walls, bacterial contamination from the rotting food and poop, just imagine the fixtures in the house. Way beyond just “give it a good clean” I’m sure.

I’m glad that Jennifer and Ron got the help they needed. It’s a shame that it took the threat of their children being removed to get them to do something but it’s better than nothing. Dare I say that alot of this disorder revolves around selfishness? I mean, Jennifer and Ron didn’t get help until the children were going to be removed from them, they never did this for the kids, they did this for themselves…

As for my son’s friend, my husband and myself went round and round about what to do about the situation. We tried talking to the parents, we offered to help them clean up, then finally when we felt we had no other choice we reported them. The friend ended up living with his grandmother which turned out to be a much better situation for him. Oh, and the parents? Yeah, they ended up being evicted and the house they lived in was condemned. I felt bad for their landlord.

I know alot of people say that this is a mental illness. Depression, they say, plays a big part in it. And while I do think this is true is a few cases, I’m also just as sure that it’s not true in all cases. I’ve dealt with depression for most of my life, but my house isn’t a disaster. My kid was always clean (he’s grown up now), the animals were always taken care of, heck our house was the neighborhood house for the kids to play at because the parents knew I’d watch them and feed them etc….and I work(ed) full-time. So for me, using depression as an excuse is a poor excuse indeed. Much more likely is narcissium, control issues, and plain ole fashioned laziness…as for Jill I think perhaps some dementia might be involved??

I know this series is all about the hoarder. I know it’s about their side of the story but I hope that this will bring to light the plight of children, animals and heck even other adults who have to deal with them. I commend A & E for airing this series…it will bring some understanding hopefully for the children being forced to live in these conditions. It will maybe bring about more people reporting this type of abuse and bring compassion for those who are forced to deal with the hoarder and the horrible living conditions.

Lots of people without cable or in other countries can watch the show on the A&E network’s website:

http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/video/

I agree with you about the playhouse and fishtank. There’s so much stuff in the world, and charities are unhappy to receive stuff that’s in less than ideal condition since they just have to get rid of it. But please tell your son, if you haven’t already, that he can get his own children a shiny new playhouse when he grows up! His sadness was so poignant, and I’m glad he’s realizing how good this has been.

I hope the other subject of the show is doing okay. She really needed help, hard as it was for her to accept.

For those who are not afflicted by this and can’t possibly understand: if you liken this to something like alcoholism, the compulsion portion may start to make sense. I’ve seen a review that professed understanding for drug addicts, and none for hoarders, but at one point in history, both drug addicts and alcoholics were considered lazy and lacking in morals. The leap past that view to deal with the problem on a disease level (whether you believe it is a disease or not) was the single most important thing to turn the tide in actually having a potential treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction.

So it is with hoarding and squalor. No person in their right mind wakes up and says “Today I’m going to hoard and develop more squalor in my home.” Please understand, especially those of us desperately trying to change our lives, we recognize the incredible challenges this creates for our children and our families and if we could wave a magic wand and be “all better”, we would do it in a heartbeat.

We want to be like the rest of you “normal clean people”. While I abhor the sensationalism and dramatics occuring in this show, I’m relieved to see others like me, *seeking help*, *trying to change*, *learning to do things differently*.

I work hard every single week to purge the excess things I’ve hoarded (I’m not as seriously afflicted as some hoarders are, and for that I am very, very grateful), and I seek ongoing support for the deep cleaning and maintenance cleaning of my home.

With support and encouragement for what ails me, I now have a home I’m no longer embarrassed to invite others into. I can freely host playdates for my child, and nearly burst into tears the first time we hosted sleep overs. I desperately wish I could have done this all differently so much for my child–but hopefully the efforts to change and learn a new way will pay off for my child!

So Jennifery & MissynAlex, hats off to you for being so brave and for trying. Keep trying. You are doing it, you are doing a great job–and you are inspiring others like me (and I’m like you!). Missy, I know you are feeling betrayed, but please let me assure you that watching you be so brave is inspiring me to keep working hard to reduce and eliminate clutter.

I’m horrified. The dramatic takes, close-ups of professionals’ faces as they expressed surprise, the gloom and doom music… It’s disgusting.

I’m so hurt. And I feel so betrayed. I was promised that it wouldn’t be like this. I was told it would be a respectful show.

I’m just so terribly sad about it now.

I wish you and your family the best,

Laurie in California

The same goes for the aquarium. Sitting in the sun, the seals were probably shot. I wouldn’t put an animal into it to live, even if I did want to clean it. Once rubber/plastic gets stuff baked/soaked/heated into it, it doesn’t come out.

It’s a question of context. If it was only the play structure and the aquarium, and the client wanted to keep those items, I’d look for a way, but still be aware that there might not be one. Since it’s a whole houseful of stuff and a very urgent need to, for immediate physical and mental health reasons, get stuff gone, I have to prioritize.

If the client has the financial resources, I might hire someone to research recycling the plastic of the play structure, and also break down the aquarium and at least recycle the glass, if the local recycling facilities even take that type of glass. The recycling facilities that I have available to me don’t accept tempered glass.

I recommend recycling and re-use, but some stuff is not appropriate for that. If the client can’t take the steps, and can’t hire someone to try to clean up individual items, (again, knowing that there is a good chance they are not cleanable) then it either stays in their living space or it goes to the dump.

Ruth