Hoarders

[boedicca]

Do those cat people that you hear about count? You know, the old lady with 300 cats in her house.

Oh definitely. Having too many cats is a sign of mental illness.

 

[skye]

I watch that program sometimes...yes.... and I am hypnotized by the filth, it is beyond anything I have seen....

Can't take my eyes off it.

 

[Immanuel]

Do those cat people that you hear about count? You know, the old lady with 300 cats in her house.

Oh definitely. Having too many cats is a sign of mental illness.

So is having one dog.

Okay, I know, I'm in trouble for that one. Do I need to go stand in the corner?

Immie

 

[boedicca]

I watch that program sometimes...yes.... and I am hypnotized by the filth, it is beyond anything I have seen....

Can't take my eyes off it.

I watched it three times, and decided to stop. It makes me feel to much anxiety and the people's lives are incredibly depressing.

 

[skye]

I watch that program sometimes...yes.... and I am hypnotized by the filth, it is beyond anything I have seen....

Can't take my eyes off it.

I watched it three times, and decided to stop. It makes me feel to much anxiety and the people's lives are incredibly depressing.

me too but... it's magnetic.... I can't stop myself watching!

 

[boedicca]

I'd rather watch Duck Dynasty or What Not To Wear (which sadly, is ending its run).

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Everyone seems to agree that a hoarder seldom sees it as a problem.

Today, trying to be diplomatic, it was very clear that she did not see a problem. Her son - argh. Who knows? He just seems like a cypher.

Visiting them and then watching this horrible TV show just makes me want to throw stuff away!

Don't do it!!!!

If you throw stuff away... tomorrow you will need it.

Hehe, I suffer from the knowledge that as soon as I throw something away and cannot retrieve it, I will need it. I'm not a hoarder, but I have wondered just what it would take to make me one... probably bachelorhood!

Immie

This is really true.

I wrote a while back about us deciding to get rid of some of our huge book collection so we wouldn't have that to worry about when we sell another one of our houses. I have listed several hundred on Amazon, Alibris, ebay, etc and its nice to get those emails telling us there has been another deposit to our bank account. And, its really nice to see stuff going out of the house.

So far, I haven't been REEEEL sorry if a particular title or item sold but there have been times when I've thought about it --

More than anything else, I like being in control of my stuff and not the other way around.

I watched it three times, and decided to stop. It makes me feel to much anxiety and the people's lives are incredibly depressing.

I don't feel anxiety but I certainly feel uncomfortable.

It is terribly sad.

 

[percysunshine]

Ok, honest time. Who here hoards links to USMB posts in case you might need them in an argument sometime in the future?

 

[skye]

I'd rather watch Duck Dynasty or What Not To Wear (which sadly, is ending its run).

I know!

But watching a human garbage machine???? that is something to behold!

 

[boedicca]

Ok, honest time. Who here hoards links to USMB posts in case you might need them in an argument sometime in the future?

Not me. I am perfectly copacetic that I have the wit and intelligence to come up with a new reply.

 

[Connery]

I had a girlfriend once that when she got anxiety attacks she would hoard and collect newspapers. It was a terrible condition for her to go through and any chance at a normal, balanced relationship with anyone was very slim. Long after the relationship was finished she informed me she had OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I would not want to wish that on anyone.

 

[boedicca]

Today, trying to be diplomatic, it was very clear that she did not see a problem. Her son - argh. Who knows? He just seems like a cypher.

Visiting them and then watching this horrible TV show just makes me want to throw stuff away!

Don't do it!!!!

If you throw stuff away... tomorrow you will need it.

Hehe, I suffer from the knowledge that as soon as I throw something away and cannot retrieve it, I will need it. I'm not a hoarder, but I have wondered just what it would take to make me one... probably bachelorhood!

Immie

This is really true.

I wrote a while back about us deciding to get rid of some of our huge book collection so we wouldn't have that to worry about when we sell another one of our houses. I have listed several hundred on Amazon, Alibris, ebay, etc and its nice to get those emails telling us there has been another deposit to our bank account. And, its really nice to see stuff going out of the house.

So far, I haven't been REEEEL sorry if a particular title or item sold but there have been times when I've thought about it --

More than anything else, I like being in control of my stuff and not the other way around.

We have literally 1,000s of books, which is why we can never move. I know most of them will never be ready again, and would be happy donating them to our friends of the library group, but mr. boe is rather attached. It's the only thing about which he's materialistic.

 

[boedicca]

I'd rather watch Duck Dynasty or What Not To Wear (which sadly, is ending its run).

I know!

But watching a human garbage machine???? that is something to behold!

If you want to see a real human garbage machine, check out "I Eat 33,000 Calories A Day" (it was on the Discovery Channel a few years back).

Talk about disgusting. Here's a clip.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0fISI7tYPE].[/ame]

 

[Gracie]

Since getting home today, I've been watching the program, Hoarders, Buried Alive. I had never seen it before and decided to watch it because I visited a hoarder today. I had been told it was bad before I got there but I was absolutely stunned at what I saw.

A long time, widowed woman and her 30-some son live in this very nice bi-level house. They're both very heavy smokers so breathing is pretty much impossible. Just inside the front door, you can look up to the top level but there are boxes and stuff right to the edge of the steps so going up there is not possible.

She invited us down to the lower level where we walked past a little alcove where there was a TV playing and her son sitting at the end of a couch that was piled high with stuff.There were boxes, VCR tapes and overflowing ashtrays.

The next room was a kitchen where there was a table with her computer on it, two chairs besides the one where she sits and a refrigerator. The stove was piled high but it looked like they use a microwave. More ashtrays and filth everywhere.

Both are overweight and diabetic. She sort of served coffee, key lime pie and brownies. The coffee was instant, heated in the microwave and the desserts were store bought. As we sat there, she ate most of the key lime pie while her son ate most of the brownies.

I once knew another hoarder where you had to shimmy inside sideways and you literally stepped up onto the filth. This person seemed to be clueless or maybe just uncaring but she invited me in as though she lived in a castle. Inside, she took me in to the bathroom to see kittens so I walked through the living room, down a hallway, past a bedroom and into the bathroom. In that walk, there was no place to sit, no toilet or shower. The tub was piled high with clothes, empty cat food cans and empty TV dinners and soda cans and just trash. Seeing that was years ago and I was really unprepared for what I saw today.

So, I've been asked for help in dealing with this situation. Both are unhappy with this awful mess but I didn't see or hear any thing that indicated they wanted to make a change. I feel like there's a huge wall and no way past it.

MY opinion is that nothing can be done or should be done until and unless they want it. And, they're going to have to want it really bad because, out of a 4 bedroom house, they are actually living in two very tiny rooms. (I have no idea where they sleep.) Moreover, I feel like I (my friends) don't have the right to go in and tell these people how to live.

A major factor here is that the son has no way to make a living when his mother dies. As it is now, they're living on family wealth passed down to them. The house is paid for.

Has anyone ever seen this before and have any thoughts?

BTW, I've dealt with animal hoarders but never anything like this.

Thanks for reading this long post.

Eww. You really sat at their table and DRANK coffee out of one of their cups and maybe even ate the pie or brownies? And no hazmat suit? Dayum. You are brave. No way would I have entered that place.

 

[boedicca]

Since getting home today, I've been watching the program, Hoarders, Buried Alive. I had never seen it before and decided to watch it because I visited a hoarder today. I had been told it was bad before I got there but I was absolutely stunned at what I saw.

A long time, widowed woman and her 30-some son live in this very nice bi-level house. They're both very heavy smokers so breathing is pretty much impossible. Just inside the front door, you can look up to the top level but there are boxes and stuff right to the edge of the steps so going up there is not possible.

She invited us down to the lower level where we walked past a little alcove where there was a TV playing and her son sitting at the end of a couch that was piled high with stuff.There were boxes, VCR tapes and overflowing ashtrays.

The next room was a kitchen where there was a table with her computer on it, two chairs besides the one where she sits and a refrigerator. The stove was piled high but it looked like they use a microwave. More ashtrays and filth everywhere.

Both are overweight and diabetic. She sort of served coffee, key lime pie and brownies. The coffee was instant, heated in the microwave and the desserts were store bought. As we sat there, she ate most of the key lime pie while her son ate most of the brownies.

I once knew another hoarder where you had to shimmy inside sideways and you literally stepped up onto the filth. This person seemed to be clueless or maybe just uncaring but she invited me in as though she lived in a castle. Inside, she took me in to the bathroom to see kittens so I walked through the living room, down a hallway, past a bedroom and into the bathroom. In that walk, there was no place to sit, no toilet or shower. The tub was piled high with clothes, empty cat food cans and empty TV dinners and soda cans and just trash. Seeing that was years ago and I was really unprepared for what I saw today.

So, I've been asked for help in dealing with this situation. Both are unhappy with this awful mess but I didn't see or hear any thing that indicated they wanted to make a change. I feel like there's a huge wall and no way past it.

MY opinion is that nothing can be done or should be done until and unless they want it. And, they're going to have to want it really bad because, out of a 4 bedroom house, they are actually living in two very tiny rooms. (I have no idea where they sleep.) Moreover, I feel like I (my friends) don't have the right to go in and tell these people how to live.

A major factor here is that the son has no way to make a living when his mother dies. As it is now, they're living on family wealth passed down to them. The house is paid for.

Has anyone ever seen this before and have any thoughts?

BTW, I've dealt with animal hoarders but never anything like this.

Thanks for reading this long post.

Eww. You really sat at their table and DRANK coffee out of one of their cups and maybe even ate the pie or brownies? And no hazmat suit? Dayum. You are brave. No way would I have entered that place.

The clouds of cigarette smoke killed the germs, no doubt.

 

[Missourian]

Link to Horders on Hulu...8 episodes stream free...horders | Search results | Watch TV online | Free | Hulu

 

[whitehall]

It's just a problem of perceived value and organization. An art exhibit could be hoarding of useless junk on a grand scale or priceless canvas with speckles and drops of paint allegedly created by maniac alcoholic Jackson Pollack. If you saw a statue of the Virgin Mary smeared with dung in the front yard of a junk collector you might be horrified but in a NYC art gallery it's considered art. There must be a million big and little museums in the US not to mention the entire world and one man's artfully displayed iron square nail is another man's piece of junk It's all about perception.

 

[boedicca]

It's just a problem of perceived value and organization. An art exhibit could be hoarding of useless junk on a grand scale or priceless canvas with speckles and drops of paint allegedly created by maniac alcoholic Jackson Pollack. If you saw a statue of the Virgin Mary smeared with dung in the front yard of a junk collector you might be horrified but in a NYC art gallery it's considered art. There must be a million big and little museums in the US not to mention the entire world and one man's artfully displayed iron square nail is another man's piece of junk It's all about perception.

Ownership and possession are not hoarding. One may question someone's taste, but merely having something distasteful doesn't make that person a hoarder.

 

[Vox]

Collecting is not the same as hoarding.

True. But where do you draw the line? Seems like there is a lot of grey area.

cleanliness and order. no grey line here at all

that's the line.

I have not seen hoarders before I moved to the US. So far I've seen them on TV only

 

[whitehall]

It's just a problem of perceived value and organization. An art exhibit could be hoarding of useless junk on a grand scale or priceless canvas with speckles and drops of paint allegedly created by maniac alcoholic Jackson Pollack. If you saw a statue of the Virgin Mary smeared with dung in the front yard of a junk collector you might be horrified but in a NYC art gallery it's considered art. There must be a million big and little museums in the US not to mention the entire world and one man's artfully displayed iron square nail is another man's piece of junk It's all about perception.

Ownership and possession are not hoarding. One may question someone's taste, but merely having something distasteful doesn't make that person a hoarder.

Isn't ownership and possession part of the definition of hoarding? How many things does it take to label a person a hoarder? Isn't it a matter of space and organization and value? The Smithsonian has 200 million artifacts. OK the discussion was fun and maybe we should distinguish between types of hoarders even if the program doesn't. There are collectors who live among the junk they continue to accumulate and then there are crazy people who live in discarded pizza boxes and rodent filth and sometimes dead pets that they haven't seen for a while.