That is what I meant by sick. I have a good friend who is a hoarder. I almost threw up the one and only time I went into his living room. He is completely resistant to any professional help.
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How Does This Happen?
- Thread starter Lady Jane
- Start date
Most of them do refuse help, unfortunately. I know I mentioned this here before but a relative’s house caught fire and the firemen could not get through for the stash of things she’d hoarded. She saved every scrap of paper, newspapers, drink cartons, stuff like that.
When the family finally cleaned it up (I think the fire dept turned her in to social services) there were holes in the floor under that stuff, a snake living in the kitchen, and lots of bugs. Disgusting. But I wonder how they let her get to that point.
miya
Strolling the yard
My father is a hoarder, and he's in the same boat, saying he doesn't need help because he doesn't have a problem. Meanwhile, you can barely even walk through the garage to get in the house because there's so much junk everywhere. Empty boxes, bubble wrap, random machine parts, all sorts of stuff, all up to the ceiling. Full of roaches too. Shudder!! Not to mention he has a separate garage in the yard that's supposed to be used as a hobby area (he does woodworking and stuff) and it's even worse.
Going to their house during holidays stresses me out, guh.This thread reminds me of something I saw on the news not too long ago. Somewhere up north, can't remember exactly, but authorities wound up seizing over 300 animals from the house (all snakes I think). That alone makes me queasy to think about and it doesn't help the report said the smell was unbearable. Must have been really, really bad. All very sad, tbh
I stayed at my parents’ home last year - mom ssaid to use her room. It’s a king size bed. One side was piled with things. On the floor on the other side were rows of shoes. This is in addition to 2 dressers and a chest, and I think a. File cabinet. The closets are both full, and clothing hung on hangers all along the closet doors. Boxes and piles of clothing lined in front of the closets. This is a room about...20x20 feet.
I had brought a small bag but there was no place to put it. Not to mention I wasn’t going to sleep in a bed with stuff on it! And she hadn’t changed the sheets.
This is not my old mom at all, but apparently it is the new one.
Then I went into the adjoining bath. It was so bad I did not shower the first night. Two sinks covered in junk. Both cabinets full. Etc. I kept telling her to pick up her things and I would clean it. Hoarders get stressed when you tell them to clean up. Finally I just cleaned it. I went and bought some containers and makeup brush cleaner, threw out what I could,scrubbed like crazy and got her all fixed up. And cleaned the shower. UGH.
Somewhere in there I dropped an earring down the drain. Daddy was furious with me over the whole thing because when he went to get it out the drain pipe literally crumbled. It’s kind of like I cleaned and so the pipe broke. Sigh.
I had brought a small bag but there was no place to put it. Not to mention I wasn’t going to sleep in a bed with stuff on it! And she hadn’t changed the sheets.
This is not my old mom at all, but apparently it is the new one.
Then I went into the adjoining bath. It was so bad I did not shower the first night. Two sinks covered in junk. Both cabinets full. Etc. I kept telling her to pick up her things and I would clean it. Hoarders get stressed when you tell them to clean up. Finally I just cleaned it. I went and bought some containers and makeup brush cleaner, threw out what I could,scrubbed like crazy and got her all fixed up. And cleaned the shower. UGH.
Somewhere in there I dropped an earring down the drain. Daddy was furious with me over the whole thing because when he went to get it out the drain pipe literally crumbled. It’s kind of like I cleaned and so the pipe broke. Sigh.
. I am so sorry for both of you.
Shezbug
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It is very sad, my adopted brother is the same. He even goes shopping when people put their hard rubbish out on the street for collection, he regularly drags home old bits of half broken furniture and other household stuff. The charity bin drop off boxes are a favorite place for him to visit, he goes through what he can to see if there are any treasures he can take home. He has a thing for vacuums and lawn mowers/garden tools.......there are approx four or five of each in his tiny flat along with numerous parts and extra hoses. He also has six bikes even though he can not ride one. He honestly believes the mice and cockroaches are coming from the neighbors flats even though I have tried to explain to him that their flats are too clean and uncluttered for those pests to live there as they have no where to hide. The last time I tried to clean up his flat it took me a whole week and we filled two dumpsters and that was with the help of four other people working from 8am to 6pm at a minimum, when his flat got filled up again we had no choice but to find him somewhere else to live so he would let us clean it up as it was such a health hazard. He had a stroke in his flat and the medics could not get in to help him due to the amount of stuff jamming the front door, it was a rather scary situation. It constantly worries me as he has so many garden tools that run on petrol in his flat, last time I was there I had to stay outside as the fumes were making me dizzy.......he would not let me move them outside though even after he agreed that the fumes were dangerous.
It seriously causes them anxiety and is terrifying for them to have things thrown out or even moved. I really feel sad for these people, I have trouble throwing things out and have to do it in a very calculated way and at the right time or I start to think something bad will happen that I can not recover from. I worry I will end up as a hoarder if I do not stay mindful of my issues with disposing of things. I can throw out normal food rubbish and useless stuff but I constantly see the value in things I no longer need and try to work out if they can be reused in some way. This is the reason I always have a huge box for the op shop, if I can not throw it out but don't need it then I put it in the op shop box and that stops me having anxiety about being so wasteful.
I can not ever understand how animals end up being hoarded though. I would think that would cause the hoarder much more stress than a normal hoarding situation.
It seriously causes them anxiety and is terrifying for them to have things thrown out or even moved. I really feel sad for these people, I have trouble throwing things out and have to do it in a very calculated way and at the right time or I start to think something bad will happen that I can not recover from. I worry I will end up as a hoarder if I do not stay mindful of my issues with disposing of things. I can throw out normal food rubbish and useless stuff but I constantly see the value in things I no longer need and try to work out if they can be reused in some way. This is the reason I always have a huge box for the op shop, if I can not throw it out but don't need it then I put it in the op shop box and that stops me having anxiety about being so wasteful.
I can not ever understand how animals end up being hoarded though. I would think that would cause the hoarder much more stress than a normal hoarding situation.
I asked my hoarder friend to watch a tv show with me. You know the one on AE called hoarders. He did watch the entire show and said "I'm not like that"
But he is.
But he is.
music2music
Meeting neighbors
Sounds like this is either a scam or a hoarding situation like others have said. If this is real, I can only imagine the living conditions.
Horrible, from what it sounds like. When I clicked the link to 500 Parakeets need rehome, it said expired, but I went to the one about the 600 birds found in the 1,000 square foot home. Good grief, how awful. I hope they can find good homes and restore them to health. Makes you sick to think that people can be so uncaring.
Oh wow, I just read the other posts where you all described your loved ones homes! @finchly I too, feel so sorry for people who get their homes cluttered like that and can't seem to have anyone help or part with anything! And I know what you mean @Shezbug - I find value in everyday things too, but I try to limit my coffee can and plastic bag fetish! I just look at the homes and think oh God, please don't let me ever get like that! I continually try to purge stuff, and people tell me my house is not cluttered, but sometimes it FEELS that way to me, you know?
This describes me exactly! Unfortunately as an artist I’ll save things like cereal boxes (to cut up and use as the base for one of my journals) or oatmeal canisters (for... I don’t know what). Then I start feeling like a hoarder so I toss them.
I cleared my entire clothes closet for our remodel last year and only kept a few pieces. I said “I love only having this many clothes, sI want to keep it this way.”
It’s already jam packed with clothes.
Yes! I have told my mother many times to watch it. And I told her to listen to what the counselors on the show say because they are right. She didn’t want to hear it.
Hubby hates when I watch that show but I feel like I should, it’s like preventive medicine for me!
Oh Tanya... I wish I hadn't read about the cereal box repurposing. Oh .... wait... I'm safe, I don't eat cereal! But gosh, those containers that my WonTon soup come in are getting scarcer, it maybe time to reorder some Chinese food - LOL. Love them for mixing small quantities of paint.
See? LLOL Today I was looking for a small jar to use for painting medium. I said you know, the only one I. Threw out is the one I now need!
