Who Watches Hoarders, Hoarding, Stuffocating?

The whole clutter/hoarding issue intrigues me. I was raised by a hoarder. As a child, I felt suffocated by all the stuff in our home--most of it entirely useless. I was embarrassed and rarely had friends over. Our house was "clean"--no spilled food on the table, no dirty dishes, no trash overflowing. But it was stuffed to the gills with stuff all over the counters and stove and every table. Every closet, cabinet and drawer was crammed so full that things fell out if you opened a door. We even had a "junk room" and two full storage outbuildings--all crammed full.

When I moved out, I kept my place clean and tidy. I couldn't stand clutter. I did have collections, but they were neatly on shelves. I acquired 1000's of books (yes, way too many) but they were put neatly on bookshelves. I did have a problem with knowing when to quit collecting. I had large collections of books, CDs, VHS movies, nicnacs that fit my decor, etc. But I didn't have boxes of things; I didn't hoard magazines or junk mail from 10 years before. I didn't stack stuff to the ceilings. I didn't fill every inch of space or every room. But a few years ago, I realized I just had too much.

My mother has never realized she has too much. If she wasn't disabled and could still shop, her house now would be crammed to the gills. It's pretty cluttered now and the guest bedroom is now the "junk room". Her closets are so full she can't put away the clothes she actually wears and refuses to part with anything that is way too big for her...in case she should ever need something that is 4 sizes too big (She has never been 4 sizes bigger).

I watch the hoarding shows to try to understand why. What thought process or emotional process causes this tendency? In the old days, people had 12, 14, 16 kids. I wonder if people hoarded children back then the way people hoard stuff these days? Or is hoarding a sign of today's wealthier economy? Experts call it a disorder, so is a product of a dysfunctional society? Every hoarder I've seen has experienced some sort of trauma that triggered the hoarding. But why these days and not 75 years ago? Why is hoarding a modern phenomenon?

I'm always amazed by the hoarding episodes. Some of the hoarders are unbelievable. Last night's episode of Hoarders was appalling. One man and his wife had acquired a couple of rabbits, which multiplied rapidly over time. They allowed the rabbits free roaming of the house. And the house was filled not only with stuff and trash, but with several inches thick of rabbit poo on the floor. The rabbits had also chewed big holes in the house and awful dust (from the disentegrating poo and sheetrock dust) covered everything. And the house wasn't even theirs; they were renting it. The owners were appalled and disgusted at the shape of their investment.

I was amazed at the utter disrespect of the husband. Not only did he not care about the destruction of the house that wasn't even his, but he was also careless with his wife's failing health. He refused to admit there was a problem even though his wife was having breathing problems and threatened to leave him.

The other hoarder on the episode was a foul mouthed, very angry older woman who had completely filled up her house and so she lived in a mobile home on her property, which she then filled up with stuff AND cages of chickens. She also had goats on the property, along with ducks in cages. Many of the animals were injured or sick. The organizers even found two dead chickens in the woman's house. One chicken had simply died under a pile of feces that it couldn't get out of. The woman kept the animals all in cages. Most were in the mobile home with her, crammed so thick in cages that they couldn't move. And she said everything was perfectly fine; her animals were loved and cared for. One of the dead chickens had starved to death. Others were losing their feathers. Some limped. Two goats in the yard limped around on three legs because one leg was injured.

This woman was so angry that anyone was trying to help her. She screamed, yelled, and cursed everyone. The therapist said this woman was the worst hoarder she had ever seen; her living conditions and treatment of the animals was the worst she'd ever seen in her career. By the end of the show, they did manage to talk the woman out of the sickest animals, but she was left with dozens. Animal control was going to be called after the show to deal with them. The woman refused to allow much to leave her property and didnt' want any of her stuff touched. She also refused therapy and after-care services. She was totally uncooperative. I was totally amazed that she could live like that and see nothing wrong with it. How does a person get to this point?? The smell of urine and feces could kill her? Can a person really get accustomed to all the ammonia???

Are these people for real?? How could anyone live in these conditions and allow someone to film it?? I've known hoarders--not to this disgusting degree, but fairly close--and none of them would allow anyone to see their homes. Are these people real people, do you think?

Maybe someone can shed some light on the subject for me. I can understand hoarding some things. I can understand wanting to have and care for animals...to some point. I can even understand letting things get a little out of hand. But severe hoarding baffles me.

Let's use this thread to discuss the episodes we saw and any insight we gain from them, shall we?

NancyAnn