"Hoarders" the tv show

[The J]

Lol. Not even tootsie rolls?

[cael]

I see situations like that (hoarders) over the course of my job sometimes, usually not to the extent seen on the show though. Very hard to convince people to get help or clean up :/ (I'm a health inspector)

[Deleted]

I've watched it and have found myself yelling at the tv! These people definatly live in denial. But then they wonder why no one ever wants to come around!But I wonder how soon after the house is cleaned out, it ends up back in the same condition!

It's the wohah is me that drives me nuts!

[dancinmama]

I've seen a few episodes and most of them are the same: person has too much stuff, person has to get rid of stuff, person doesn't want to get rid of stuff; shrinks and family convince person to get rid of stuff (most of the time).

The last episode I saw (weeks ago) was so gross I haven't been able to watch the show since. IT WAS TOTALLY DISGUSTING!!

[Gardening Grandma]

I watched a few shows. It's really sad. Clearly most of these folks have mental issues when they agonize about getting rid of very inane items and don't seem to see the conditions they live in. I don't think I could stand to watch it on a regular basis. Just not my idea of entertainment.

[piratesparrot]

The episodes that really bother me are the ones where children or animals are involved. They can't help it and are forced to live in these conditions.

[Deleted]

I watched last night too. Some of these people have my sympathy but some of them are just downright mean.
Take the animals away and make sure they don't get more. Some of them are hopeless and will never change. I do wish they would show more happy endings on that show. Maybe there are not to many happy endings.

[Deleted]

Jan 23, 2011 14:23:48 GMT -5 @piratesparrot said:

The episodes that really bother me are the ones where children or animals are involved. They can't help it and are forced to live in these conditions.

The sad part is, the parents don't even realize what they are doing and how it effects the kids!

[zibazinski]

I dated a guy whose mom was a hoarder and it was just awful. They sometimes are embarrassed because of the condition of their home but that isn't enough to make them stop collecting junk. She was the garage sale queen so it was ALL treasure. Her house was just piles of stuff up to the ceilings.

[Befferz]

Jan 23, 2011 18:45:23 GMT -5 @daphne87 said:

I often have panic attacks thinking of what we're going to have to go through when he passes on. Thank goodness that's still a ways away! (Hopefully!)

My parents aren't hoarders, but they've lived in their house for over 30 years now. We've all agreed that when they move or die, we're just going to torch the house.

[Deleted]

Jan 23, 2011 18:50:01 GMT -5 Befferz said:

Jan 23, 2011 18:45:23 GMT -5 @daphne87 said:

I often have panic attacks thinking of what we're going to have to go through when he passes on. Thank goodness that's still a ways away! (Hopefully!)

My parents aren't hoarders, but they've lived in their house for over 30 years now. We've all agreed that when they move or die, we're just going to torch the house.

Life insurance + Homeowners insurance = ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Deleted]

My friend told me his Mom was a hoarder. I didn't really believe him until he took me to meet her. He wasn't lying.

She'd cleared a path in the living room and cleared a chair for me to sit on. If there was other furniture in the room, it was buried under mountains of STUFF. I had to sit on the edge of my chair because there was still stuff on it. She explained the mess to me, saying they'd recently sold a house and that's where all the stuff came from. When we left, my friend said he hoped I didn't really believe that, because it wasn't true.

His Mom had recently had a nightmare that the paramedics had to come out and couldn't get a gurney through the house, so they couldn't help her. She kept asking him if he thought a gurney could get through. I'm perched on the edge of my chair, looking around, and all I can think is "WOW".

My friend has a baby that's almost a year old. When we left he said his Mom cannot understand why he won't let her keep the baby. He said he's afraid they'd never find his baby again if he left him over there. I was thinking there was no telling what dangers were hidden within all that stuff that his baby could get into either. But I kept that thought to myself.

I just can't imagine living like that.

[ummboutthat]

I've watched 3 episodes when they first aired or when I first noticed they came on with the series. Well Hoarders about cleaning up the house. How they would find dead animals...horrible. Now they branched out into Hoarders with pets. There may even be one about food.

[cael]

Jan 24, 2011 2:09:01 GMT -5 @ummboutthat said:

I've watched 3 episodes when they first aired or when I first noticed they came on with the series. Well Hoarders about cleaning up the house. How they would find dead animals...horrible. Now they branched out into Hoarders with pets. There may even be one about food.

There has been at least one ep with a food hoarder it's pretty gross!

And yes, it is a mental illness and it's very difficult for a lot of them to seek out or accept help. There is really a whole process you have to go through w/ them, just like the show demonstrates. It's also difficult for family members to really understand what's going on and why mom tweaks when you try to throw away a newspaper. And I also agree that many people don't get the continuing therapy they need to really address it instead of just putting a bandaid on it.

[tundrated]

This show always gives me great motivation to clean out a closet or get rid of some old clothes.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

They did a follow up episode from the first season and only one person had accepted and continued with therapy. He was the only one getting better. The rest never took the offer or they dropped it after a couple of weeks.

[973beachbum]

I was reading somewhere that Hoarding is a form of OCD. At first I thought the writers were on crack. They went on to say that although to us it is a really big pile of crap, to the hoarder it is a perfectly placed treasure. The people who do it are indeed mentally ill. But just cleaning out the stuff that is the physical manifestation of their mental illness doesn't come close to helping them. They really need to work with a Dr to fix their mental illness first, then the hoarding part will eventually take care of itself.

Personally I can't watch it. For some reason just looking at those houses makes me nervous and a little OCD about cleaning my own house. DH's Dad's wife is a little bit hoarder. The only thing that keeps it in check is DH's dad is a throw it out type. Just going there makes me uncomfortable. I just can't stand staring at all that stuff. I am not a neat freak by any standard but all that junk everywhere makes me nuts.

[Opti]

Because of this thread I watched one episode of Hoarders online yesterday. I watched the one with the guy whose three rats escaped into the house and he just let them breed. I really hope he gets the help he needs to come to terms with his wife's death. I think the grand total of rats that were living in his house was 2350!

I found this episode much less disturbing than the woman who hoarded food and had fond memories of some cabbage that was rotting on her kitchen floor.

[swamp]

Jan 24, 2011 10:19:50 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

But, one lady, I think it was Hana or Lana looked like she was going to flat out have a stroke as soon as any of her stuff was touched. What I can't understand, is that yes, they may have suffered some childhood or even adult trauma. But, don't they now understand the trauma they are inflicting on their own children? And, how can they choose a mountain of garbage over their own children?

Like you said, it's a mental illness and people need to be more sympathetic.

[zibazinski]

These people not only harm themselves, they harm others, whether they be animals, children, or their loved ones.

[thyme4change]

There are two shows - the first one was just called Hoarders. And after another station realized that it was trainwreck, and therefore people would watch it, they came out with "Hoarders: Buried Alive." The approach is just different enough that I can watch one of them, but not the other.

On Hoarders, there is almost always a deadline. Like, the house is going to be condemned by the board of health on Friday if they don't clean it out. Or, the guy will get evicted from his apartment. Or, the disabled son won't be allowed to live there any longer. Or, the kids will be taken by CPS. Etc. So, they send in 10 guys and 5 trucks and the just start throwing stuff away while the hoarder stands there and freaks out.

Hoarders: Buried Alive is a little different. They send in a counselor of some sort, and they do these little cognitive behavior exercises, and they show a lot of the aftermath of that, but they usually give the hoarder some strategies and leave them alone to clean. They check back on them periodically. The results are very different. Usually after 6 months they go back and the houses have gone from insane to just cluttered. There are almost always a stack of boxes or plastic tubs against one wall - but 85% of the room (each room) is workable. I like Buried Alive because I actually think they help make progress with the people. Because they have to clean it all themselves over a longer period of time, I think they actually build a new way of thinking and living. Their houses will always be too cluttered for me - but it will be within a normal spectrum of acceptable. I'm guessing with the first Hoarders show, the people get past their deadline and just continue to be who they are. I can't imagine you can solve a psychological problem like that in 3 days.

[kimber45]

The have "animal hoarders" on now as well

[thyme4change]

The have "animal hoarders" on now as well

I refuse to watch that.

[kimber45]

The have "animal hoarders" on now as well



I refuse to watch that.



Read more: www.notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fun&action=display&thread=2165#ixzz1ByVtsoom

Me too, like some people have already said, I love animals more so than a lot of the people I know.

Also, children (to a certain age) and animals have NO CHOICE in their living conditions

[Frugal Nurse]

Watching it makes me want to clean and get rid of things I've been saving "just in case I want/need/will fit into it/might be able to give it to someone else again"

[Frugal Nurse]

Jan 24, 2011 12:30:06 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

The have "animal hoarders" on now as well

I refuse to watch that.

I have to stay away from all those animal planet shows. Seeing abused animals breaks my heart. I have to change the channel when the ASPCA commercials come on. they make me .