Hoarders: Too Much Stuff for Their Place

You’ve probably seen a photo similar to the one shown below on your local TV news or in your local newspaper. The usual scenario is EMT personnel or police discover a condition like this where they have entered a house because of a crime or medical emergency. The resident is usually older, perhaps suffering from dementia or other health problems, and we cringe when we see pictures of a house or apartment so full of stuff, that the only way to get around is by using narrow gaps between piles of stuff.

Courtesy: stuff.no.nz

Emergency personnel often call these homes “path houses.”

Most of us would never imagine letting things get this bad and we do manage to control the proliferation of stuff in our houses. But, like Gresham’s Law posits that nature abhors a vacuum, our houses eventually fill up with stuff. And then, as the comic George Carlin once noted in his monologue “A Place for your Stuff,” we move to a bigger house so we can get more stuff.

And one of the more unique cable TV reality shows is the Arts & Entertainment network’s “Hoarders” now in its seventh season. Each hour-long episode follows two hoarders as a team of professionals attempt to help them deal with their hoarding problem. And hoarding is not a trivial matter—hoarders can suffer health, social, psychological, financial and even legal problems if the situation gets too bad. It can cause families to break up, illness for the hoarder, and hoarders can even face eviction for violating local housing health and safety codes. If a home is deemed uninhabitable by local officials, the hoarder may lose custody of any children living there.

Hoarders are often discovered in the aftermath of a natural disaster, fire or illness of the resident. That’s when emergency responders will notice and report conditions of a hoarder’s house while trying to rescue a resident. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, officials discovered hundreds of hoarders among the thousands of homes damaged by that storm.

The Mayo Clinic defines hoarding disorder as “persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of the perceived need to save them.” The hoarder experiences distress at the thought of disposing of items and eventually accumulates too much stuff regardless of the actual value of the items being kept.

Favored items for hoarders to keep include newspapers, magazines, papers, plastic bags, photos, household supplies, food and clothing. A hoarding condition also can lead to compulsive purchases of more and more stuff and that could lead to financial difficulties.

Experts say there is a link between hoarding and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD) and there may even be a genetic tendency to hoard. The main symptoms of hoarding are: inability to dispose of stuff, difficulty organizing or categorizing possessions, anxiety about disposing of stuff, feeling overwhelmed or embarrassed about where to put things and suspicion of letting others into the house to know about their possessions.

Hoarders often have other behavioral and psychological problems such as ADHD or depression. Some hoarders live in home where appliances are broken, the furnace doesn’t work or other necessary items go unrepaired. The hoarder decides to cope with the inconvenience rather than let a repairman come into the home.

How many people have this condition? The website Psychcentral.com says the number is between 700,000 to 1.4 million. Among those with OCD, experts estimate 18 to 42 percent of them are hoarders.  The International OCD Foundation estimates that 2 percent of the population hoards.  Psychologist Gregory Jantz, founder of “The Center-a Place for Hope” and author of more than two dozen books says that hoarding is unique because it both causes stress and relieves anxiety.

New York City has set up a specific department to deal with hoarders who have been discovered. The city will provide counseling, help in disposal of the junk and provide referrals to social service agencies that can aid in the “recovery” of the hoarder.

With the increased number of aging Baby Boomers, this is a good idea for other communities to emulate because the number of hoarders is likely to increase.